


A Shinobi's Vow

by sparkleofhope



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, F/M, Haruno Sakura-centric, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23576038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkleofhope/pseuds/sparkleofhope
Summary: Sometimes strength means fighting for a dream that no one can see but you. For Sakura, that dream was Team 7 back together. Nevertheless to say, Tsunade of the Sannin didn't teach quitters. "I will be their shield." she vowed.
Comments: 70
Kudos: 287
Collections: Naruto bests, wwwwwww





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A Shinobi's Vow by sparkleofhope aka sparkleofhope on FFN

Everything felt like a dream or a nightmare, depending on how you looked at it. Sakura didn't know how to look at it. For so long she had wished, cried, and pleaded to get a second chance, to start again, to do things better. Now when she finally has it, she can't help but wonder what was she thinking when she thought she could do this alone. Contraire to what people seemed to believe, she was not Shikamaru, to plan, to think of the outcome even before the second move was made. No, doing that would require logical thinking and a cold judgement, things that have never bode too well with her. She could never restrain her emotions when Team 7 was concerned.

When the pinkette woke up one day as a twelve-year-old she figured she should have trusted more in magic and the like. Sakura knew that she should be happy but the shock was too big and the emotions were far too many for her to keep in check. She couldn't have jumped right back into her old life and though skipping class wasn't one of her brightest ideas, it worked for now.

She couldn't bear to see Sasuke and Naruto, innocent yet silently suffering. She couldn't bear to see Ino, not when she knew her father won't live to see the war end. She couldn't walk the streets and risk meeting up with Team Guy, knowing Neji will die at seventeen. She couldn't face Kakashi-sensei, knowing his deepest regret is alive somewhere, plotting a war and world domination. She couldn't see little Konohamaru, who will witness two of the closest people to him die. She couldn't face The Third Hokage, whose death is near. She refused to see the people who died and their loved ones. For her, they were ghosts. Ghosts of a past that made her cry one too many times.

Sakura knew her parents were worried but that didn't make them any less annoying, even more than how she remembered them to be.

"Are you having boy problems?"

"Are you sick?"

"Do you want us to call for that pretty boy?"

"Had Iruka-san suspended you?"

_If there is a God, they will stop eventually._

After a few days of refusing to leave her room and freaking out about the situation she was currently in, Sakura decided that maybe she should stop scaring them, least she'd discover how a mental asylum looks like. That's where her parents would have sent her if she hadn't joined them for breakfast. She half wondered what excuse they had given Iruka-sensei for her constant absence while her other half was busy thinking about the probabilities of _this,_ being a genjutsu.

She got a sore throat after saying 'dispel' so many times.

_Unlikely._

"Sakura sweetie, are you giving up becoming a ninja?"

_What?_

In all honesty, the question shouldn't have surprised her but it did. Until that moment, she had never pictured any other life for herself. How could she? Being a shinobi, a kunoichi was who she was. At the end of the day, even if she had nothing, she knew she would always have that. Now though...now she was starting over. Now, she wasn't Sakura, the apprentice of Senju Tsunade, member of Team 7, hero of The Fourth Great Ninja War, medic-nin.

No, she was Haruno Sakura, with no accomplishments, no titles, no blood on her hands. _She could walk another path this time._ But would the people she had healed and saved still live? Would Sasuke and Naruto be better off without her? Could she save everybody this time around if only she chose so?

The pink-haired girl looked up from her plate to meet her mother's eyes. She expected to see some hope in there, joy, that her only daughter was finally letting go of that foolish ambition of hers. She was shocked to find none of that. Then, she glanced at her father, seated at the end of the table. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't spot one single glimpse of amusement creasing his face and the bad jokes and teasing never came. So, she answered, in the only way she knew they deserved: truthfully:

"I don't know."

 _I don't know anything._ _I don't know what to do._ _I don't know what to choose._ _I don't know anything but again, did I ever do?_

"That's alright dear. Just know that we will always support you, no matter what you choose to do."

_That's what I'm afraid of._

She needed someone to bang her head against a wall if she made the wrong decision, not kiss her feet. With a sigh, Sakura decided that the best course of action would be getting some fresh air after staying indoors for such a long period of time. The medic-nin in her knew it wasn't healthy. Finishing her cereals, she dropped her dirty plate into the sink. She almost made it outside the kitchen and out the front door of their apartment when Mebuki called after her.

"Where are you going Sakura?!"

_Right. I had forgotten that at twelve I was supposed to let them know wherever I go._

"I'm going to take a walk!"

She didn't let her mother say anything else, rushing out the door with a speed that was quite pitiful, compared to the one she was used to. The thought of her other abilities being just as weak almost made her cry. Shaking her head, Sakura began her walk around Konoha, silently marveling at the peace and quiet that lay around and silently praying not to cross paths with anybody familiar.

_If spotting Naruto outsmarting several ANBU ninja can be qualified as 'crossing paths.'_

One glance at the Hokage Mountain told her everything she needed to know and her heart reached out for him in a way she knew her past self wouldn't have cared to. _How could I have been so blind?_ She scolded herself, curling her hands into fists, her eyes never leaving the sight of a boy with blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes being lectured by a chunin. No, not by any chunin, by _Iruka._ For some reason, no matter how much Sakura tried to convince herself that she shouldn't interfere, her legs had a mind of their own. Upon approaching the duo and realizing that she didn't even get noticed, Sakura smoothly but loudly enough interjected:

"I could help him, if that's alright."

At the sound of her voice, both stopped yelling at one another. They faced her, astonished.

"Naruto disgraced our sacred Mountain thus I believe cleaning it should be his punishment and his alone but..." Iruka paused, glancing between the two of them. "I suppose I could make an exception..." before Naruto could have thrown himself to his neck, he added in a stern voice: "But only this time. Understand, Naruto?"

The blonde goofball nodded enthusiastically before looking her way. "Thanks Sakura-chan!"

His smile was so sincere and heart-warming that it made something in Sakura snap. There he was, her best friend, her teammate. Innocent, unaware of the atrocities that exist in the world. Naruto, free of any promise that she had once upon a time burdened him with. She wanted so badly to reach out and hug him but knew that would raise some eyebrows. The old her was a brat who thought that he was nothing but a nuisance, a wall between her goal of winning Sasuke's heart. However, she couldn't bring herself to scold Naruto or to hit him like she used to. Not when the memory of him laying pale and not breathing was so vivid in her mind.

"You're welcome. Let's get started, ne? The faster we work, the sooner we will get to finish." she urged him, taking hold of his sleeve as well as dragging him in the direction they were supposed to go. Tsunade had been right when she told her that Team 7 was both a weakness and a strength. All her self-preservation thoughts vanished as soon as she had seen Naruto. Now she must flee before Iruka realizes that she should have also been in class, or at home. Upon recognizing the sound of steps behind them, she fought the urge to run. Instead, she gripped Naruto's arm even tighter than before, as if his mere presence was enough to stop her from acting like a fool, like a _coward._ He didn't seem to mind. Not believing her luck, she allowed a curse to slip past her lips, the kind that you wouldn't expect to hear coming from a young lady.

"Did you say something, Sakura-chan?"

"No." she replied, a little too quickly.

"If you want us to spend some time alone Sakura-chan, we could always ditch Iruka-sensei."

Sakura didn't know whether Naruto got a sniff of her true feelings about the matter or if his crush on her had pushed him into suggesting that. Either way, she allowed herself to be amused by his antics. He had leaned closer, attempting to create a soundless barrier with his hands and spectacularly failing. He ended up talking just as loudly as he usually did.

Iruka either got deaf over night or he simply pretended not to hear.

"That'd be rude of us Naruto." Sakura scolded him gently but with a stern look in her eye. It was a tempting offer.

While the pinkette knew Iruka was coming so he'd make sure that they would, indeed, clean the Hokage Mountain, Naruto was convinced that Iruka-sensei was acting as the opposite of...what was that word, _wingman?_ Yeah, that.

Three hours later, the duo was still scuffing at the hard surface of the rocks that portrayed, quite well, the faces of the shadows that have defended Konoha over the years. Upon glancing at the mountain, she noted with satisfaction that most of the painted damage had been taken care of.

"Sakura, your parents told me that you haven't been feeling well lately. Please let me know when you return."

Not 'should', but 'when' as if the thought of her never doing so was unimaginable. She didn't answer to her former Academy instructor, neither did she make any sound of agreement or disagreement as she continued to scruff some paint off The Yondaime's cheek.

Naruto, who happened to be cleaning some spot not too far away from her at the time, heard Iruka and the silence left by Sakura, where there should have been an affirmative answer, bothered him. "Come on Sakura-chan! The Academy is so boring without you around. Well, it's always boring but with you there, it's not as much. Y'know what I mean?" he explained and in his panic to make sure the pinkette wouldn't give up or something stupid like that, he nearly fell off the pedestal that allowed him to stand and clean the Hokage faces. Fortunately, he managed to regain his balance just in time.

She let out a breath of relief, annoyed by his clumsiness. She would have scolded him if it weren't for his eyes, blue eyes that were too bright and hopeful, too much resembling the sky. Eyes that, as he got older, made it harder and harder for her to refuse him. How could anyone think of Naruto as the intimidating, full of hatred Kyuubi...was something that she'd never understand

The answer to her inner turmoil, Sakura realized, had been there all along. She had already made a decision, her former teammate helped remind her of it. It was just so like Naruto, to get people on the right path when they have lost their way. To stop her, from giving-up. The old her couldn't have been more wrong. Naruto was not a barrier, a wall, nor a pebble underneath her shoe. No, he was her shield, constantly watching out for her. Always, even when he wasn't aware that he was doing it. He knew Sakura would have regretted choosing to be a civilian for the rest of her life. There really weren't enough apologizes in the world for the way she had treated him and certainly not enough "thank yous" or rewards for everything he had done and risked for her. His life being one too many times among the things he'd happily throw aside if it ensured her safety.

One of the things that she could give him, was her constant presence. It was so rare to find somebody happy, happy with nothing but your company. She'd grant him that wish and if she made sure to return the favor and be his shield, just like he had been for her, well...

_I can't fail him again. Not this time, not again._

"Tomorrow, Iruka-sensei. Tomorrow." she answered and something in the way the chunin was looking at her made Sakura wonder if he knew the real reason behind her absence.

"I'm glad. Now get back to cleaning!" Iruka's strict voice was back, not wavering in the slightest.

Naruto's proud smile from earlier turned into a scowl but he picked up his sponge and continued what he was doing.

Sakura, who followed his example, decided to lighten things up a bit. "We could go eat some ramen afterwards, if you want." she suggested innocently and watched, amazed, as his entire face brightened up and formed a smile, a genuinely _happy_ _smile, one_ that had her stomach clench when thinking of how many times she had berated, insulted, and ignored him.

"Really? You are the best Sakura-chan! This mountain will be cleaned in no time, believe it!" he declared with a newfound vigor that Sakura was sure only Naruto would be capable of having after standing in the sun and heat for three hours, scuffing rocks.

To Iruka's astonishment and to her amusement, the Uzumaki goofball quickly finished cleaning his side and insisted, quite vehemently, that she drops her sponge and lets him do the rest. She would have protested but everything happened with such speed that she could have sworn Naruto became nothing but a flash of orange that her eyes could barely keep up with. So, she dropped her utensils as he had instructed, allowing herself to sit down and rest.

"Baka." she mumbled for old times' sake, frowning when she noticed just how numb her arms had become. Her lack of muscles made her feel ashamed of herself. She would have to start training her body soon.

_I can't afford to be weak this time around._


	2. Chapter 2

All the shinobi training in the world couldn't have prepared her for this moment while the pairs of eyes that were currently burning holes through her body made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was ridiculous. She had grown up with them, healed them, fought by their side.

The pink-haired girl cursed her perfect Academy attendance. She had never missed a day so, she couldn't blame her classmates for being curious. Such a childish thing, _curiosity._ It made them look so vulnerable, innocent, a far cry from the strong hardened shinobi that she had learned to trust with her life.

"Sakura-chan! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Torn apart from her musings, she rushed to the blond' side and sat. Gasps echoed around the room and though she knew how it must have looked like, she paid them no mind. They were used with her beating Naruto and ignoring him like he was nothing but dirt beneath her fingernails. _That ends today_.

"Thanks Naruto." she said with a smile, turning her head to face him.

"No problem, Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed, fighting a blush from showing on his whiskered cheeks.

When Iruka walked inside the classroom, he smiled at them before he began the lesson. Fifteen minutes later and Sakura could tell that Naruto was growing impatient. He was a ball of unlimited energy. It wasn't surprising that he found it hard to stand still during class. _Were all Uzumaki like this? The Yondaime was said to be a calm and composed person. Naruto must take after his mother regarding his tendencies._

Not that she found the history lesson any more interesting than he did but the reason behind her lack of focus was simple and well justified. Her strength, at this point in her life, had been her knowledge. She was book smart, always absorbing information like a sponge does to water. Everything Iruka was talking about, she already knew. Naruto, however, had a small attention span to things that weren't 'cool' as he would put it.

_We must fix hat. Knowledge is also power, perhaps the greatest of them all. At least I understood that back then._

When lunch break arrived, he all but jumped out of his seat, relieved that the theory part of the day was done with.

_And here comes the part that my past self loathed._

Sakura thought, cracking her knuckles with excitement. While her current strength came nowhere as close to the one that she was used with having, a small part of it managed to survive her journey to the past. Now it was only a matter of figuring out just how much she had to improve before she regained back her former power.

"It's time for the amicable spars. Boys, I want you to form a circle. Since the girls won't take part today, we will use the other half of the hour for target practice."

Mumbles of agreement could be heard and for a moment Sakura found herself judging her own gender. No, that won't do. She was not going to happily sit on the sidelines and cheer Sasuke on while talking gossip. _Not again._ She was going to train. There wasn't any rule forbidding her from doing something productive while the guys paraded their muscles, was there?

"What is she doing?"

"Shouldn't all the girls sit back and watch us?"

Ignoring the stares and the talking (something that she seemed to be doing a lot lately), Sakura walked to where the weapons were stationed, picking up a bunch of kunai before standing in front of the targets. Iruka glanced between the pink haired girl and the crowd of boys before he cleared his throat. "First match: Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Chouji."

Her first tries at throwing kunai were mediocre at best. Not because she had bad aim (she was no Weapons Mistress like Tenten was, _will be,_ Sakura corrected herself, but she was decent enough); The reason behind her failed throws was her stance and once she remembered that she was not seventeen, not anymore, it was a simple feat to correct her position so it would fit her small, twelve-year-old body.

The next objective on her list was re-learning tree climbing which, wasn't an effort from her part since she had this mastered the first time around very quickly. Sakura decided to label it as one of her irrational fears. She just wanted to make sure that the abilities that she was supposed to have at this age were actually there.

"The last spar of today is Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

_Nani?!_

As Iruka made the announcement, Sakura fell off the tree but years of fighting out in the field had sharpened her reflexes. She regained her balance and gracefully landed on the ground. Maybe her mind had suffered some sort of trauma that she never bothered to cure, maybe it was a protective instinct that she had developed or maybe it was her guilt, demanding that she pays back every favor that Naruto had ever done for her.

Whatever had compelled her to ditch training had one main point as focus: his safety and Sakura, with the mind of a seventeen- year-old who had witnessed the dark-haired boy try to kill Naruto several times couldn't register, couldn't make the difference between this Sasuke and her Sasuke, who became someone that she could barely recognise. Now, the one standing in front of her, kind and unaware of the truth behind his clan's massacre, free of Orochimaru's cursed mark, was the _foreign_ picture that she could only recall echoes of:

_"Sakura, get off. You're heavy."_

_"Sakura has the sharpest mind in our team."_

_"Who did this to you?"_

_"Don't tell Naruto."_

_"Thank you, Sakura."_

With a determined stride in her step, the pinkette walked towards the crowd of boys, stopping behind the Uzumaki troublemaker. "Give your best, Naruto!" she encouraged him, placing a supporting hand on his shoulder. She knew her gesture couldn't possibly change the inevitable outcome of the spar but this, this wasn't about winning or changing things. No, this was about all the times Naruto had been there for her. About the times she hadn't stood by his side when all he wanted was to know there is someone out there who was cheering for him too.

"Don't worry about me Sakura-chan! I will kick teme's butt, believe it!"

And she smiled because he smiled and whenever Naruto smiled the world seemed a little brighter, a little better.

Their spar, unfortunately, went exactly as Sakura had predicted and it took every bone of restraint in her body not to run between them. For some reason, even though she had witnessed Naruto getting beaten and hurt many times before in her past life...Now, every kick, every punch that Sasuke managed to successfully perform made her sick to the stomach. The worst thing of all was how Naruto refused to accept his defeat.

It didn't surprise her but she was selfish enough that she couldn't bear to watch. Throwing Iruka-sensei a pleading look proved to be useless. More often than not, teachers, especially if we were talking about _ninja_ ones, believed that sometimes only experiencing rough moments would teach children a good lesson and quitting with your dignity still intact seemed to be today's.

A lesson that Naruto would never even consider learning; Iruka didn't know that. Nobody knew that when Naruto said he is never going to give-up he means it with his all being. Nobody knew that he'd sooner have his arms and legs cut off before he quit. _Nobody._ But she, she did.

 _If Sasuke won't stop, Naruto won't quit and Iruka won't step between them..._ Sakura let her thought trail off, as she gripped tightly the material of her red dress.

Despite common belief, medic-nin were taught a lot more than healing. In order to handle such fragile, delicate things as internal organs and external body parts, she had to _know_ them first. Tsunade, being one of the few medic-nin to also join combat situations, showed her just as many ways to destroy somebody's body. Fake fainting didn't seem like a bad way to fix things. Sakura refused to believe the spar would continue if there is a _"sweet innocent girl"_ laying on the ground.

It didn't take much pretending for her to pull it off. Just thinking of the war's cruelty and seeing Sasuke beat up Naruto were enough for her blood pressure to drastically drop. Besides, this made for a good chakra control exercise because if she wasn't careful, she'd end up fainting for real. It wasn't exactly child-play per see but...was it ever in the shinobi world?

* * *

On the bright side, her stunt had saved Naruto from more bruises and humiliation. On the other side, pretty much everyone, her parents included, were now under the impression that there was something wrong with her health. She lost count of how many reasons and excuses she gave just so they wouldn't take her to a doctor. She also drew the line when they wanted her to stay home and rest.

In less than a month, she'd become a genin once more. Before that happened, she needed to train, she needed to be better than last time. Other than attending the Academy and doing individual training, Sakura took teaching Naruto the things that nobody bothered to very seriously. He had complained in the beginning but she knew him well enough in order to convince him. However, she didn't know how to do her lessons so they wouldn't be too much of a headache for him.

That's where Shikamaru came in. In her past life, Sakura saw him as a rival but later on she had come to admire him as someone superior, she had come to understand than no intelligence could rival that of a Nara's and Shikamaru in particular was pretty brilliant. Besides, it wouldn't bring anybody harm if she tried to befriend people before chaos got thrown in their lives, right?

Making up her mind, the pinkette closed her hand into a fist, knocking lightly on the door. She didn't have to wait for long because soon enough, a woman in her thirties with black hair and equally black eyes answered. From the hardness of her stare to the strength that seemed to radiate off her, Sakura deemed it safe to assume the woman was no one other than Shikamaru's mother. "Good afternoon Nara-sama! I'm Haruno Sakura, Shikamaru's classmate. Does he happen to be home?" she asked politely.

"Finally, someone has come to drag my lazy son out of the house. Yes, he is here Sakura. Come wait inside until I wake him up." the woman replied with a determined glint in her eyes that made Sakura feel sorry for Shikamaru.

"Ano...it's alright Nara-sama. I don't want to bother Shikamaru when he is sleeping. If you could please let him know I came when he wakes...up." she finished her sentence in awe at the fact that the Nara matriarch was already walking down the hall and yelling loud enough so the entire household would be able to hear.

 _I forgot how much it sucks to be a pre-teen_ , _having to obey your parents...gomen, Shikamaru._

A few mumbles of "troublesome woman" and "girl", that Sakura was sure was meant for her later, the Nara heir came with a lazy slouch in his step, hands inside some invisible pockets that by the look on Shikamaru's face, _should have been there._

The pinkette scratched the back of her neck in a nervous manner, a dead giveaway habit that she had taken from Naruto — there was only so much time you could spend with someone before some of their tendencies rubbed off on you.

"I tried telling her not to wake you..." she began but before she could hope to continue what she had to say, Shikamaru silenced her with an understanding nod.

"It's a drag but she means well. Sometimes. Dad says so, at least."

Sakura adverted her eyes for a second at the mention of Shikaku Nara, another name that made her stomach twist in guilt. Why guilt? She didn't know. For not preventing it, for not having enough guts to say something about it now; it was a blurred sensation. She just knew she found it hard to look people in the eye these days without thinking about their injured bodies or the scattered corpses of their loved ones.

"All mothers do. Including the one of bad habits." she said, smiling slightly at Shikamaru' surprised expression who eventually nodded with an amused half smirk.

"Well...not to sound like a jackass or anything Sakura but why did you come?"

 _Is it really that obvious that I came with a purpose?_ She found herself groaning internally before another part of herself whispered in a knowing kind of way. _For a Nara? Duh!_

"I wanted some advice about..."


	3. Chapter 3

He never ceased to amaze her. Naruto, that is. She was sure, so very sure that it'd be a slow and torturing process, their daily studying sessions but things had gone as smoothly as they could, considering their circumstances.

Green eyes scanned the paper tests, once, twice and by the third time she checked them, Sakura decided that what she was seeing was real and that her efforts had paid off in the end.

She had Shikamaru to thank for this miracle because she wasn't as conceited to think that she could have succeeded alone. However, the person who should be given the most credit was the Uzumaki goofball himself.

_He learned in a month what others learned in years._

"Sakura-chaan, just tell me already. The suspense is killing me." Naruto loudly complained from where he was sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor, rubbing a bump on the head from when he had tried looking over her shoulder.

She gave him the test papers and a wide smile. "You are ready to graduate, Naruto." she exclaimed, watching him closely to see his reaction.

Nevertheless to say, her smile slowly shifted into a frown when no bright blur of orange tackled her into a hug.

"What's wrong? I know you didn't get a perfect score but we both agreed that shinobi rules get broken all the time out in the field."

Just because her past self used to know them by heart that didn't mean, even for one second, that Sakura agreed with them so, she hadn't pushed Naruto to learn those.

"I know, dattebayo. I'm just...confused. You used to hate me before. Now you are helping me, AND spending time with me more than with anyone else. Why? What changed, Sakura-chan?"

It had been easy, so easy for her to fall back into old habits, to act as though she had been his friend since forever because in a way, to her, that's how it felt like. Almost every memory worth remembering had Naruto smiling brightly at her, promising one thing or another. It was hard for her to acknowledge that things hadn't always been that way, that she truly started to care for him only after Sasuke had left the village.

It was back then that she started needing him like the lungs needed oxygen; she had needed him to fill the void their teammate left. And Naruto who suffered the same loss, who felt that same pain, didn't question her whenever she couldn't sleep and woke him up in the middle of the night to keep her company.

He didn't question the hand she had started placing on his shoulder, or the signficant drop in strength whenever she punched him. Naruto didn't make any remarks. It was almost like he never even noticed. He simply welcomed her with open arms, radiating kindness and warmth.

It occurred later to Sakura that he had needed her as much as she had needed him. Because they were alone. Every day they were surrounded by people who judged and insulted Sasuke, as if they knew him. She and Naruto had been the only ones willing to move mountains. Anything. They would have done anything to bring him back.

They were the only ones who refused to accept any other outcome than the one where they came out victorious. They were alone in their grief and nobody could have understood them like they had understood each other.

Now, _now_ Sakura had to stop and think. Sasuke's betrayal was the catalyst of their friendship, of their _bond._ What had they been a year before it happened?

_Classmates._

_Strangers, because we knew nothing about each other. Passions, fears, dislikes, weaknesses, dreams, strengths...Nothing._

She was back to square one and while Sakura knew it was a good thing, that she could stop tragedies and dark events, it was moments like these when she wanted her old life back.

She wanted her Naruto back, the one who didn't look at her suspiciously. She wanted her Ino back, the girl who wouldn't glare at her for something they had long pushed behind them. The people surrounding her now were merely fragments of the ones she had once fought besides, laughed with, and put her life on the line for.

_Is this what you have always felt Naruto, Sasuke?_

_Alone, in a crowd full of human beings?_

Sakura tightened her hold on the material of her red dress, swarmed by regrets. She regretted not being wiser, better; for thinking she had the whole world figured out when not even the surface had been clear to her.

Upon noticing the silence that heavily lay around, she realized Naruto was still waiting for an answer.

"I did." the pink-haired girl looked up to meet his eyes. "I changed and ever since I realized some things, I've been trying to make up for them. I know it's not enough but..."

"Say no more, Sakura-chan! I was stupid to think you have an ulterior motive. Ano, it's just...most people don't like me, you know? I have no idea why though but, it doesn't matter. Having you, jii-chan and Iruka-sensei is enough for me. So, thanks Sakura-chan, I couldn't have done this without your help!"

A powerful wave of anger hit her, seemingly out of nowhere. She knew the villagers were blaming Naruto for the Kyuubi Incident. She wondered just how bad the situation was. Sakura made a mental note to find out.

"Baka, you did the right thing. A ninja _should_ be observant and never let their guard down. With a henge, everyone can look like me so, always be prepared. " she tried to hide the relief and joy she felt on the inside when Naruto stopped giving her that confused and mistrustful look. He forgave her. She had his forgiveness.

He nodded, closing his fist against his chest. "Of course I remember! I will be able to make the difference between your chakra and everybody's else in no time, believe it!"

_If my theory is correct, then Naruto has the potential of becoming a chakra sensor like...that Sound girl, Karin._

"There is only so much information books can give us, Naruto. The best sensors in Konoha are the Yamanaka, so..."

Before she could have hoped to finish her sentence, Naruto made a face, as if he had already connected some unpleasant dots. "You mean, we have to ask _Ino_ to teach me?" he asked as if that had been the worst life sentence given to men.

However, Sakura must praise his progress in analytical thinking and speed of deduction. "No. What I meant is that _you_ _,_ will be the one asking Ino-buta."

She knew the Yamanaka clan heiress was nowhere near her full potential at this point in time, but learning the basics was better than nothing.

_Naruto had surpassed Jiraya-sama when he added wind chakra to the Rasengan. He can figure things out if he is given a few tips._

"Sakura-chan, Ino would skin me alive! Didn't you and her use to be friends or something?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck as if he was searching through his memories.

_Used to. Past tense._

"We are rivals now." Some part of Sakura felt obliged to say it because that's how things were now, weren't they? As far as everyone was aware of, their friendship was nothing but a chapter in their past and even though she has been ignoring Sasuke, _avoiding_ him even, people couldn't just forget _years_ of fangirl behaviour.

She supposed it was the Universe's way of laughing at her. Had she gone back further in time, say before she entered The Academy, she would have made sure Haruno Sakura was never found in the dictionary under that dreaded word.

Unfortunately, she was a second chance long after her reputation had formed. Thus, her less brighter years would forever be there; a black stain in a file that Sakura swore to ink drown with accomplishments.

_I guess it can't be helped._

"No offence Sakura-chan, but can't you two be rivals _and_ friends at the same time?"

Naruto posed a good question. Unfortunately, she and Ino weren't him and Sasuke. There wasn't any emotional pain or understanding depth that bound them together as one. Truth be told, Sakura knew she and only she, had been responsible for their fallout.

 _This...regret. I forgot how it feels like, having Ino and I stand on opposite sides._ _Can I change this?_

"I don't know. I made a mistake and said some things."

"Have you tried?"

_Did I?_

"No..."

The Uzumaki goofball gave her a pointed look. "You shouldn't give up so easily, Sakura-chan! Seriously now dattebayo, how can you know if you don't even try? "

_That's right Naruto and besides, I am here to change the past not watch as everything unfolds the same as before!_

"I think...I have something to fix. Thanks Naruto! I will see you tomorrow at graduation!" the pinkette rose from the floor quickly enough that she ended up knocking off a flower vase.

The son of The Yellow Flash caught it just before it hit the ground, yelling. "See you, Sakura-chan!"

* * *

Finding Ino proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated. The first place she searched for had been her family's flower shop. When she found Yamanaka Inoichi instead, Sakura got the same notch in her belly that she had when Shikaku got mentioned, only worse.

It was one thing to hear of a dead person. Having that person stand right in front of you, was quite another. Sakura took a deep breath and untangled the metaphorical notch, greeting him and asked about her hopefully soon to be friend.

The answer she got, however, had been annoyingly ague. She fought the urge to roll her eyes when Inoichi, head of The Analysis Team in the village's Intelligence Division, scratched the back of his neck like a confused child and chuckled nervously, rambling about stuff Sakura didn't want to know.

Suffice to say, Inoichi had no idea where Ino was. The fact that she was with Shikamaru and Chouji gave her a few ideas.

Surprisingly or not, she found them in the last place she had thought of looking: the park. Despite the emptiness of the area, the trio didn't seem to have noticed her yet. They occupied the swings. Chouji was busy eating and though Shikamaru stood with his eyes closed, head inclined towards the sky, she knew him well enough not to be fooled by that lazy-at-first-glance poise. His mind was restless, even if his body didn't look it.

_He slept during all of our classes and still got top scores._

Then Sakura's eyes fell upon Ino, confident in what she said and in how she looked, talking their ears off about something important if their reactions was any indication.

Chouji froze mid-bite while Shikamaru cracked both of his eyes open, sitting upright. Unfortunately, their masks got back in place as quickly as they had fallen.

To an outsider, that would have meant nothing but Sakura, who had watched many teams in the past, including theirs, recognised the behavior.

 _The desire to flee and ignore the harsh reality, the realization that tomorrow will be the beginning of something both great and dangerous. That their childhood_ _is...ending._

Had the outsider lingered for awhile, he wouldn't have failed to see Chouji and Shikamaru placing their hands on top of Ino's. A promise. The start of a bond that would transcend lifetimes. Three souls, one body. Team. Family. That was the Ino-Shika-Cho.

_I wonder, Naruto, Sasuke...will we ever be like them?_

It was a fool's dream and nobody knew it better than she did but for a split second, she indulged herself. Sakura adverted her eyes from the emotional scene. She couldn't help but feel as though she were intruding upon something intimate that should be sheltered from witnesses.

She didn't get far very far.

"Oi, Sakura."

Even without turning around the owner of the voice had been unmistakable. Of course Shikamaru would notice her right when she wanted to leave. Smiling nervously, Sakura joined them on the swings.

"Hi guys. Ano, I can leave if…"

"It's fine Sakura, don't worry about it." Chouji cut her off, not unkindly. He thrust out his bag of chips; a silent offer she politely declined. The pink-haired girl bit her tongue as not to scold him for eating so much junk food.

She searched for Ino. The blonde was uncharacteristically quiet for once, probably too busy glaring if Sakura judged correctly the angle of her head and the stiffness of her back.

Shifting her gaze to Shikamaru who had his eyes closed once more, she jabbed a finger into his ribs, gently enough so, it wouldn't leave a bruise but hard enough that he'd snap one eye open to look at her.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me out. Naruto will pass tomorrow with flying colours."

The annoyance of being disturbed vanished gradually as he allowed her words to sink in. He smirked. If you were to ask Sakura, she'd say Shikamaru was proud of Naruto himself.

"Good. Listening to his whinning would have been a drag."

Sakura let out a small chuckle. "You bet."

Silence followed her statement. She didn't know what else to say or how to approach Ino for that matter. Hot tempered she herself was, but the young Yamanaka took the cake as far as emotional unpredictability went.

Shikamaru, contraire to popular belief, noticed more than he showed. Figuring out the real reason behind Sakura's search for them had been easy.

Spoiler alert. She hadn't come all the way here to thank him. Not to say that she wouldn't have done it all, but it wasn't something important that either of them specifically cared about. The friendship she and Ino had once shared, though? That was important.

If Sakura wanted to make amends, he wasn't going to stick around. A fight could break out and that'd be troublesome. Say it didn't; the two ended up crying and hugging...that would be even more _troublesome_ ; He didn't know how to comfort girls and leaving them alone once they started crying would be a dick move.

Leaving before that? It was the move of a genius and Shikamaru just happened to be one.

"Oi, Chouji." he called out. The red-haired boy turned his head to face him. Good, he had his best friend's attention. "Remember the forest behind my house? I found something there yesterday. You could also come, Ino, but it'd probably disgust you."

Shikamaru's lazy voice echoed around the park, just like a saving grace would. It took Sakura aproximately five seconds to realize that not only had he figured out the struggle she was in, but he also just offered to help.

He and Chouji must have shared a telepathic link because the latter gave her a sympathetic look before taking his leave, the Nara heir right behind him. They only rose after Ino said she wasn't interested in something that would disgust her. There was a time when Sakura would have agreed, but those times were long gone. She had seen so much that little would be able to disgust her now.

"What do you want, Forehead?"

_Straight to the subject. I shouldn't have expected anything else._

"Wait until I finish talking before you cut me off, alright, Ino-Pig? Five minutes. That's all I need."

"Good because that's all that you were getting anyways."

_Don't kill her. You don't kill future friends._

The pink-haired girl had to remind herself as she clenched and unclenched one her fists. Sakura loved Ino to death but sometimes she was too much. And yet, she wouldn't change a thing about her.

"I want us to be friends again. I was wrong to end our friendship. It was a stupid reason. It was stupid then and it's stupid now. I mean, has Sasuke-kun paid any attention to us? What did he do to make us think we'd have a chance anyway? I'm sorry Ino, for putting him first and I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but tomorrow we are officially ninjas. I'd hate to hear to hear you died on a mission without having us talk things through."

"You are wasting your breath, Sakura. We made our choice, hadn't we? Going back on it, is cowardice. How can I even trust you? A broken mirror even repaired will never be the same again."

She couldn't blame her for saying that.

Seeing Sakura look down at the ground, Ino decided that was all the confirmation she needed. She rose gracefully and started walking only to stop mid-step. "I don't know what game you are playing at, but I'm no fool. Eventually, Sasuke-kun will make his choice. When that time comes, I would have made sure I won. Good luck with Naruto though. He isn't a bad catch." she paused here. "If you can look past his intelligence and baggy clothes, that is."

Sakura had taken insults before, although it has been awhile, but Naruto? He has had enough of those to last him a lifetime.

"Say what you will about me, Ino-Pig, but don't you dare involve him. That, picking on loved ones rather than on your enemy, is _cowardice._ "

Sakura, who was equally tired and angry, stormed off the playground, passing Ino. _Things can't always be easy._ She thought remorsefully.

Despite the arguments he had carried out in his own head, Shikamaru chose to stay behind, near the park. His stationary point was strategically speaking very well chosen because it let him know how the conversation had unfolded. The sight of Ino's angry walking and tear smudged eye-liner caused him to sigh.

_A disaster then._

He fought the urge to flee in the opposite direction, mentally complaining. _This is such a drag. Why did I willingly place myself right in the middle of pandemonium?_

Shikamaru couldn't find any logical explication and chose to blame, weirdly enough, the Will of Fire, convincing himself that just about any Leaf shinobi would have offered support to his comrades.

_I did not just think that._

He grimaced. His justification had so many holes that it was embarrassing.

"Discovered something my ass. I should have known you are too lazy to search for things." Ino startled him out if his self-scolding. The place he had chosen to hide in wasn't as good when the object of observation stood outside the park.

For what Shikamaru wanted, however, it had worked just fine. "I could have stumbled across it." he drawled lazily.

The Nara had a feeling that wasn't the best way to counter.

"Even worse! You are graduating tomorrow Shikamaru. Shinobi don't stumble!" Ino put her hands on her hips.

_Called it._

No matter how much he had tried ignoring Ino's nagging, his attempts proved to be as effective as when he had applied them around his mother. In true Nara fashion, Shikamaru stopped trying after awhile. He knew not to fight a losing battle. _I could as well try to tone out an entire crowd._

"Why didn't you accept Sakura's apology?" There. Beating around the bush wasn't their thing.

Ino gave him a look, her briliant and puffy blue eyes piercing him like she wanted to know why. Why was he taking Sakura's side instead of hers?

"Because she didn't deserve it. It's that simple, Shika." the way his nickname rolled off her tongue...softened him.

It always did.

"Troublesome woman." he complained.

He could handle happy Ino, scared Ino, angry Ino, hell, even crazy Ino better than her _sad_ version.

"You are taking her side." she accused him.

_Analysis: spot on._

"I'm not, but I'm not taking yours either. You were both wrong. Sakura admitted it, why can't you, Ino? I wouldn't let my friendship with Chouji suffer because of some girl like you had done in regards to Sasuke." Shikamaru stuck his hands inside his pockets. "I know you and this right now, is your pride talking."

Ino did the mature thing and stuck out her tongue.

He sighed, convinced his future teammate was going to kill him long before enemy-nin had the chance.

"Come on." Shikamaru gently tugged at her sleeve. "I'm walking you home."

Ino blinked, looking positively stunned...and sceptical. "I can walk myself."

The Nara heir nodded. "I know."

A few seconds of eye-contact later, Ino accepted, clinging to his arm. Night was said to be a good consellor and Shikamaru knew the blonde would be thinking about what he told her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura stood in front of her mirror, looking at it. The person staring back at her felt foreign. Although a month had gone by since she had time traveled, her body didn't feel right. It was too small and fragile, lacking the muscles she had worked so hard to gain. She closed her fist tightly but no matter how many times she repeated the action, it just wasn't the same. The small flicker of strength gathered in her fingertips was mocking to her real potential but still, it was better than nothing.

Frustration had become a close friend lately even if logic and science told her it was a wonder her body even managed to survive the strain of being torn apart and cut by something nobody should ever meddle with: time.

It shouldn't have been possible.

_And yet, here I am._

Sakura chose to take it as a miracle if only to strengthen her resolve. Miracles can happen. If she succeeded to do something that nobody ever did, then that had to count for something. She just had to cease moping around and see the bigger picture.

_Help Naruto. Save people. Stop the war. Stop Sasuk—..._

_No._ She firmly told herself, shaking her head. She didn't want to think about that now. Despite knowing that having to interact with him was unavoidable, Sakura wanted to prolong her inner peace. No matter how deluded it was.

She eyed the red dress she usually wore with a critical eye. Today she was officially becoming a ninja, for a second time. How impractical it was didn't escape her notice, as she clearly remembered Tsunade commenting that it had to go after taking her as an apprentice but she didn't want to make people more suspicious than they already were. She had given them enough reasons.

However, the kunai in her hand thought differently. The red material wasn't removed completely however, just shortened. The dress had been ridiculously long. Underneath, Sakura chose to wear a pair of black shorts, like the ones she used to wear before. She kept the blue sandals, pulled her hair up in a messy bun and decided that she will be going to buy a pair of combat gloves soon. She planned to take back her glory and she figured she had tortured her knuckles enough lately, with punching trees and the ground without anything to shelter them.

Taking one last glance in the mirror, satisfied with the balance between old and new, Sakura added the final touch and the most important of them all: her headband.

_The pride of a ninja._

"I'm going now!" she yelled as she walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"Sakura, you haven't eaten anything!"

_Mom, I don't think I'd be able to keep any food inside with the swirl of emotions gathered there._

She thought inwardly but turned around, kissed both of her parents' cheeks then grabbed three apples, rushing outside.

Right at that moment, Ino walked out of her own home. She expected the cold shoulder, because of what happened a few months ago before Graduation. Instead...

"I like your new style."

"Thank yo..."

"Just don't think that is enough to impress Sasuke-kun. Naruto, however...he'd adore you even if you wore a sack."

_I should have seen this coming._

"Shikamaru would like you more if you weren't so noisy. But, it's part of your charm." Sakura retorted, giving her former best friend a pointed look. If that's how she wanted to play...

As expected, Ino donned a look of indignation. "Forehead, you can't be serious..."

"I am. He puts up with all your quirks even though he had more than once said they are traits that he could happily do without. Think about it."

Ino was successfully silenced...but not for long.

"You aren't going to win Sasuke-kun over by eliminating the competition."

Sakura wanted nothing more than to bang her head against the bark of a tree. Or Ino's but she understood.

And that was the saddest part. Once, she had been in the same place, with the exact mindset that brought her team nothing good in the long run. However, she knew Ino was better than how she had been. The Ino-Shika-Cho was too important. Sakura doubted she had ever failed Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Sasuke-kun had never really paid attention to us."

Not that she could blame him but once again, how dense she used to be, came to shake her wide awake least she'd end up falling once again in a sleep of ignorance. The amount of PTSD he must still suffer of, the nightmares...

"He knows our names. That means something." the blonde Yamanaka pointed out.

She blew a sigh. "We have been classmates for years. It'd be weird if he didn't. It proves nothing."

Ino opened her mouth again then closed it. Then opened it again. "That rumor that he likes girls with long hair..."

Sakura did wonder about that sometimes, as embarrassed as she'd be to admit it but only to guess who came up with it.

"You said it right, Ino. A rumor. Who knows who started it."

They reached their classroom, silently parting ways to find a seat. The pinkette could feel people staring but whether it was because she and Ino were acting civil with each other or because of her new look, she couldn't tell.

"Sakura-chan...?" Naruto stood there, unblinking, mouth slightly open, as if he was seeing her in a completely new light.

She smiled a little before realizing that wasn't the right thing to do. The blush on his whiskered cheeks had gotten worse, worse enough that she feared he'd pass out. Grabbing one of his cheeks firmly, she tugged on it. "Close your mouth. I don't look like your favourite ramen." she playfully chided him, letting go of his cheek once his face had turned back to normal.

He gave her his most blinding smile. "No, but you come as a close second Sakura-chan." he said, voice too young and high pitched to sound like proper flirting but that was Naruto and she wouldn't trade him for the world.

A laugh went past her lips. "Only second? I suppose I will have to do better next time." she said with a wink that had the Uzumaki blushing again.

"Don't wink at me like that Sakura-chan." Naruto complained, openly flustered, turning his head sideways, arms firmly crossed over his chest, trying to gather back his composure and what was left of his sanity.

Upon deciding that she had teased the blonde troublemaker enough for a day, Sakura took the seat, between him and Sasuke, a little reluctantly. It couldn't be helped. Even if she defied fate and chose another seat, that wouldn't change anything. Not the past they shared, nor their upcoming future.

Iruka walked in and the class was reduced to silence. He began a speech and just like that, Sakura felt her mind drifting, to another time, another place.

_It was chaos. Body parts were flying, blood was everywhere she looked, including herself. She couldn't remember where hers ended and the blood of her comrades began. And it was a good thing, Sakura didn't want to know. Her nose had long become accustomed to the awful smell, not that she had a choice. It was in the air and air was everywhere._

_They were no longer divided in groups but together, united as one, yet still scattered. Neji was taken down and she had been leagues away, not able to save him. That had been two days ago. Now, Gaara was making his way among the crowd of corpses and shinobi alike, travelling on his sand. She didn't get it, not at first but his usually unemotional eyes spoke volumes now. Sakura knew before he reached her. Just like she knew Sasuke was going to leave Konoha, or that something wasn't right with Kakashi-sensei during Pain's attack. She just knew. It was as simple and as complicated as that. People around were calling for her aid but she was refusing them all. If Naruto died, all they fought for would be in vain. She tried telling herself that it wasn't because Team 7 was always going to come first. That'd she wouldn't kill and sacrifice for them with no hesitation._

_It felt surreal, to see Naruto pale and void of life, void of the spark and warmness that her brain was forever going to associate with him. Her mind might have been in shock but her body wasn't, her training effectively kicking in as her hand and healing chakra reached out to help. It wasn't working. Even as she was pushing more and more chakra_ , _she couldn't have possibly hoped to fill the void left behind by Kurama being extracted._

_'That dream of yours...it doesn't seem silly anymore!' she leaned over, performing CPR while pumping his heart with her bare hands._

_After the Fourth Hokage succeeded to pass away his chakra, Sakura's eyes felt heavy. Her energy was drained but her mind kept whispering. 'If only had I been more capable...' The last thing she remembered. Then darkness._

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka's words brought her back to the present and reminded her of the current reality she had to face.

"Iruka-sensei, why do I have to put up with a loser like Sasuke?!" Naruto loudly whined, standing up onto his chair, pointing a finger at the dark-haired avenger.

Taking a hold of his orange pants, she tugged on the material. "Sit down baka, don't make a scene." It was useless however. By now, _everybody was making one._ Even Hinata could be seen silently protesting the team arrangements.

"Because Naruto, Sasuke was at the top of the class. You were at the bottom."

Sakura sighed. One month of learning with her did some small wonders but she and Shikamaru both knew he still had a long way to go. Combat wise, she didn't worry at all. Naruto had been a brilliant shinobi on his own.

She tried not to think about how cold his still heart felt in her hands.

...

Lunch-break arrived. Until their teachers made themselves known, they were free to do as they pleased while they waited but it was mostly time scheduled for eating. Sakura looked down at the three green apples inside her bag. She knew who she had in mind when she took them and yet...

She couldn't bring herself to fully complete her initial idea. The pinkette handed one to Naruto, aware he probably ate very rarely fruits. Then her eyes fell on Sasuke, sitting by himself under the shade of a tree. She bit her lip, looking down at the apple, then back at him a few times.

_What is the point? He would only misunderstand my intentions._

She thought, spotting Shikamaru resting on the grass. There was no doubt that he was either asleep, prepared to, or watching the clouds. Upon approaching him, she hesitated however. His eyes were closed and he seemed at ease. A stark difference between the older Shikamaru, more weary, tired.

"You are blocking the sun, Sakura."

If it wasn't for him deciding to speak, she could have sworn he was sleeping.

"How did you know it was me?" she couldn't help but ask, genuinely curious.

"Easy. Anybody else would have been louder with their approach. Chouji has heavier steps and the sound of munching on food always follows. Ino would have disturbed the silence instantly. As for the others, there was a 30% chance it would have been someone else other than you."

Sakura found herself smiling, Shikamaru's tactical thinking never ceasing to impress her. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, moving to the side so she wouldn't block the sun rays any longer.

The shadow caster arched a brow, opening one eye to look at her. "It depends. Do you have more troublesome subjects to talk with me about?"

She shrugged innocently, trying to stop grinning. "Just one."

Shikamaru closed his eye and said nothing else. That was his silent agreement.

Sakura took it, laying down beside him on the soft grass, mirroring him and closing her eyes. She could understand why he so often sought out this. It was relaxing, a getaway.

"Well?"

"Thank you."

"You already did." it was rare to hear a Nara sound confused but as amusing as it was, she continued:

"For helping Naruto. _Now_ , it's for talking with Ino. When she spoke to me this morning, I knew you told her something that changed her mind." the time traveler said, handing one apple to him.

He opened his eyes, a gentle expression on his face. "You don't give her enough credit. I just gave a small push."

She shook her head. "That small push, came from _you_. Ino doesn't listen to just about anybody."

Shikamaru remained silent, taking the apple with a nod of gratitude. Sakura smiled to herself, before taking the last apple and placing it in his other hand. She stood up quickly and before he could have said something, she called out:

"Ino-Pig! Shikamaru wants to talk with you."

The blonde gave her the stink eye but passed by her and walked towards her teammate. Noticing her own teammate nearby, Sakura approached him.

"Did you just...play matchmaker Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, half confused and half stunned.

She was slightly taken aback by how aware he had gotten of his surroundings, of stuff in general. A part of her wondered if he had always been like that. "Honestly? I'm not sure."

_When Temari and Sai come into the picture..._

"Hey, small steps count as big in the long run dattebayo. You taught me that." He nudged her friendly in the arm, looking ahead at the currently arguing duo. Well, it was more like Ino scolding Shikamaru and him taking it calmly, mumbling "troublesome woman" every now and then.

She gave him a smile.

"I had a good teacher."

It couldn't have been less true.

_You taught us that, Naruto. The you from the future._

Step by step, he had succeeded to conquer not the world, but the hearts of people. Slowly, patiently, then all at once. Even when things seemed without hope. As much of a hassle as re-living her teenage years for a second time was going to be, Sakura was happy.

_I get to watch you do the impossible and grow before my eyes all over again._

"Why are you crying Sakura-chan?" Naruto's concerned voice made her realize that she was indeed crying. He gently wiped the sole tear that fell on her cheek away with his thumb. "I'm gonna miss this place too. As boring as it was, I met Iruka-sensei here and you but we are ninja now and new paths lead to change, not necessarily a bad one. Not on my watch dattebayo."

He watched Sakura nod determined, regaining her composure. "Not on _our_ watch. " she corrected him and the fierceness in her green eyes was one more reason that reminded him why he loved her so much.

They made their way back inside the classroom, to wait for their future sensei.

...

Seeing Kakashi, aloof and pretending to be as dense as a wall of bricks had stirred up mixed feelings within her. It was comforting, for one. To feel like a genin once more, dependent on her jonin instructor for protection, for advice, guidance. It was an illusion, of course. One that got far too soon broken. There were stronger people out there than their sensei and that realization, Sakura clearly remembered, had shaken them to their core.

She had forgotten how Kakashi used to be prior to them bonding as a team. She could only recall the kind of smile a father gave his children, the way he would ruffle their hair and act as mediator whenever Naruto and Sasuke got into one of their fights, his promise to protect them. The proud look he worn the day he witnessed the results of her training with Tsunade-sama. His cold behavior now was to be expected but it didn't bode well with her. Instead of playfully teasing Naruto, he was belittling him mercilessly, ignoring her, and being mildly pleased by Sasuke, but not impressed.

_We aren't Team 7 yet._

The introductions on the roof were as she vaguely remembered. The jonin whose hair defied gravity had nothing personal to share, Sasuke had spoken of revenge and Naruto of ramen and his dream. All were the same.

Just not hers.

"I'm Haruno Sakura and my dream is of a peaceful world, a better reality, a renewed shinobi system and my precious people safe and happy. The rest, is all tied one way or another to the bigger picture."

_The picture I was too blind to see in the past but I am seeing it now._


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't have to meddle today. She could simply sit back and watch the bell test play out exactly as before. It'd be easy and less of a hassle. Kami knew getting Naruto and Sasuke to work together would be no walk in the park. A monkey would be easier to be taught teamwork than these two.

However, Sakura had long ago decided that she was going to change things and her past self's attitude which was in dire need of adjustments just happened to be one of those. She'd be damned if she fainted and made a fool of herself again. Kakashi had to notice her this time and value her contribution to the team. Had to see her as a capable kunoichi in training, treat her nor better and nor worse than the boys. So, if she wanted to obtain these effects, she had to alter the premise.

She wasn't deluded, nor confident that she could beat the Copy Ninja but her strength combined with Sasuke's speed and Naruto's natural unpredictability could make Kakashi consider training them seriously in the future. Sakura wanted to mend Team 7 and what better way to do so than ensure their bond is steel like when they cross paths with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death? Sasuke leaving Konoha was the catalyst of a disastrous chain of events. So even if she won't be able to prevent him from receiving the curse mark, he wouldn't be tempted to leave.

Should neither of the two plans work out in her favour, there was always Plan C.

_Use my fists. Pleading and crying did nothing to faze him last time._

No. Sakura was no longer bitter about getting knocked out and left unconscious late at night on a park bench. Hardly. She had gotten over it. In fact, she cared so little about it that her third plan entailed giving Sasuke a taste of his own medicine. Logic and reason kept whispering (she tried her best to ignore Inner's stubborn protests, they weren't worth taking into consideration) that she was being vengeful and letting the past cloud her judgement but really, she'd be doing the world a favour.

Regardless of how she stopped Sasuke from leaving, bottom line was: he wasn't. Never. Unless with approval. Not from the Hokage, or Kakashi or whatever higher ups decided to stick their noses into her business.  
Approval either came from her muscles or nobody's.

_My currently mockable muscles._

The pinkette sighed depressed. She couldn't wait to get back to splitting training grounds and pummelling people. Patience, was a virtue that she had learned as a medic-nin. Unfortunately, Sakura quickly discovered that being twelve again had made it close to non-existent. Huh, maybe that's why she ended up tearing Naruto's front door off its hinges but could you blame her? She loved the blond to bits but his sleeping habits resembled those of a bear's and honestly, he always had a knack for testing her patience. Be it present or future.

"Good morning Sakura-ch— MY DOOR DATTEBAYO."

That's when he fainted.

Although she felt bad about it, now that she got to take a closer look at the material the door was made of, Sakura was considering whether to apologize or not.

As she leaned down to check for any possible bruises caused by the fall, she nodded vehemently. "I'm buying you a new one." It was going to be difficult to explain her parents why she had already spent her month allowance but it'd be worth it. She had been the one to break it, after all.

_Now, how to wake him up..._

"I've brought ramen!"

Nevertheless to say, her exclamation was enough to get Naruto up. "Really?"

"No."

His enthusiasm quickly flickered away, even more so at the sight of the damaged front door. "I have to use the hammer again." he mumbled.

_Again?_

Sakura's eye was positively twitching by now. Just how small were the funds given for orphans?

_Scratch that...just how small are the funds for Naruto?_

"I'm sorry. I will take care of it."

"But..."

" **My** mistake, I fix it." she paused, crossing her arms over her chest before adverting her eyes. "Go dress properly. I will return in a couple of minutes."

If Naruto was confused with her behaviour, he didn't show it. He'd rather not find out if Sakura could break anything else just as easily as she broke his door.

* * *

_This is a bad idea._

_**Only if it goes wrong. Her inner quipped helpfully.** _

Sakura decided not to comment but gather the bravery she knew she had. In truth, what was she afraid of? She was the student of Senju Tsunade, she was a renowned and respected medic-nin, she was a strong kunoichi. All that had to count for something even if she was no longer in possession of these things.

_I am still me._

That was all the resolve she needed to go knock at Sasuke's door. At the same time, as if in sync, the last Uchiha chose that moment to exit his apartment.

She thanked Kami for her war-shaped reflexes otherwise Sasuke would have gotten acquainted with her fist. Sakura also tried to ignore the small voice who kept whispering that she shouldn't have retracted her hand. Donning her most innocent expression, she looked at him beneath her eyelashes to gauge his reaction. Surprise was first but annoyance quickly took its rightful place. However, he seemed to be waiting for an explication.

_Apologizes first._

"I'm _so_ sorry."

He scoffed. "I would have dodged it."

They both knew he couldn't have but for the sake of the Uchiha pride, Sakura let it go. There was plenty of time to show him what she was capable of.

"Anyway, do you know how we are supposed to meet Kakashi-san in a few minutes?"

He gave her a look _you don't say,_ then walked past her. "Hn, we are going to be late."

"Sasuke, think about it. He was late yesterday. What makes you think he is going to show-up on time today?"

Her question was met with contemplative silence. "How do you know he won't, Sa-ku-ra?"

_Sceptical as ever._

Coming up with a lie was fairly easy. The trick was to make it convincing enough.

"My uncle knows him. He said he has this habit of always being late. Hokage-sama only allows it because he is a formidable ninja and his mission record is something to behold."

"And you came all the way here just to tell me this?"

Sakura bit her lip. _Here comes the difficult part._ "Yes and no." she paused, trying to find the best way to say what she had to.

Unfortunately, Sasuke mistook her hesitation for embarrassment and girly shyness. "I have no intention of going on a date "

Her eyes widened slightly before spluttering indignantly. "What? No! That's not why I came." she exclaimed, ignoring his utterly baffled expression. Sakura continued "How did you reach that conclusion anyway?"

It was a poor attempt to make him feel guilty for jumping to conclusions, as she was proven two seconds later when he levelled her with a doubtful look. "You have always done that."

The pinkette felt blood rush to her cheeks. Her asking for a chance had been so often an occurrence that him rejecting her had become a reflex.

_And who is to blame for that anyway?_

"Well...I realized it isn't worth it anymore." Sakura mentally cringed as she said the words. She didn't really believe herself so how would Sasuke believe her?

Not giving him a chance to say something or sneer or walk away from her, she continued. "My uncle also mentioned that Hatake-san had failed each team he had been assigned to."

That caught his interest. "He won't fail me."

She fought the urge to beat some sense into that conceited skull of his. He was too confident in his own abilities and in his heritage.

Sakura figured it was about time Sasuke started to f out that all the things people so far have adored him for...Kakashi didn't care about, not unless the concept of teamwork was also included.

_Still...it had been his idea in the past to break the rules and feed Naruto our food._

Another part of her was quick to add, however. _For the sake of the mission, not Naruto himself._

"Did you not hear what I said? Iruka-sensei named us Team 7, Hatake-san referred to himself as "sensei candidate" for our team. I do not know in what ignorant bubble you are currently living in Sasuke, but we are a team." the pinkette paused, unfazed by how little distance there was between them now. Too busy she was, clenching and unclenching her fists. Even Inner was quiet now. "We win, or we fail as _a team_. Whether _you,_ like it or not."

Then her anger dissolved into thin air and jade green eyes widened in astonishment.

_Did I just...?_

Sakura couldn't seem to remember ever being so straightforward, so angry, so frustrated or so brave. To stand up to the subject of her affections. Until lately, she had been a firm believer that Sasuke could do no wrong.

_Look at him, Inner. Really look at him._

And so, she did. From up close, the barely visible bags around his eyes were there, proof of the nightmares he must suffer of, there was tension in his shoulders as if pride alone made sure he did not slouch from the weight of revenge, expectations, and his eyes...

_**Outer, he is devastated.** _

She had treated him as if he was a god when she should have seen that he was as much human as the rest of them. Sakura couldn't help but wonder:

_Is this what Naruto had seen from the very beginning?_

Her boys were alike in their brokenness. She had been foolish to believe she could ever compete with a bond like that.

But then, if she was like them, Team 7 would be a team of tormented souls because Kami knew Kakashi was just as emotionally and mentally scarred as Naruto and Sasuke.

_**Be grateful, Outer. You can fix this. You can stop any more blows from getting to them.** _

Sakura couldn't have agreed more and a vow, the vow of a shinobi, one that would transcend through lifetimes, again and again, was made that day.

_I will be their shield. Now and always. Just like they have been for me, a life ago._

The longer she stayed looking at Sasuke, however, the more she felt like crying. Besides, Naruto was waiting for her and she didn't want to disappoint him. She made a 160° turn, believing she had said enough.

"What do you suggest?"

Sakura smiled, a tear of joy rolling down her cheek. Her words had reached him, for once.

* * *

"Sakura-chaan! Why did Sasuke-teme come with you?" Naruto complained like the child he still he was, donning an adorable pout.

"That's what I'd like to know as well, dobe." he paused, narrowing his eyebrows at the sight of a green, teared off its hinges, door. He quickly decided he didn't want to find out why was that.

Being on the receiving end of Sasuke's glare and Naruto's dramatical _betrayed_ expression did make Sakura a little uncomfortable. She had forgotten how good their teamwork was. Especially so when they weren't even aware they were doing it.

"Long story, short: our future sensei is probably going to show-up a few hours later. As for the _don't eat_ warning, it's a bluff. You don't go starving to complete a task. It's suicide. I'd rather puke, as he said, after my body took all the vitamins I need than go ahead with nothing."

"I broke the rules all the time in the Academy. Fine by me, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned, putting his hands behind his neck.

Sasuke smirked. "Sly sensei has the Hokage given us." he paused, giving her a meaningful look although he looked embarrassed that he hadn't thought about it first. "Good deduction."

The pinkette beamed at them, then pulled three bento boxes Haruno Mebuki had made, handing out two of them.

Naruto complained how it didn't have any ramen, only healthy stuff he usually couldn't be bothered to eat. However, he was hungry, food was food and if their lazy sensei thought he was getting away with tricking him, he had another thing coming. So, he dug into his bento alongside his teammates.

Sasuke on the other hand didn't voice out loud anything but a polite "thank you" before proceeding to eat with the table manners of an aristocrat, levelling Naruto with a piercing glare every time the blond did the opposite and talked with his mouth full.

She felt her heart grow as she watched them. Young, opinionated, safe, _here, with her._

"And now? What are we supposed to do?" the Uzumaki asked as he finished after thanking Sakura with a smile. It turned out that healthy food didn't taste as awful as he had initially thought.

_Great, I didn't think that far._

Scratching the back of her neck in a sheepish manner, she took a moment to think. They couldn't get any training done because they were going to need all of their energy against Kakashi but they could form a plan...

"We need to work together."

The two males of Team 7 reacted instantly.

"Like hell I'm working with this guy! Sakura-chan, we can do it by ourselves dattebayo!"

"Hn, the dobe would only slow us down."

"Who are you saying will slow down who teme?!"

"I was merely stating facts, usuratonkachi."

_This is going to be a long day._

Sakura thought, putting her forehead in her hands. If there was something she hadn't missed, it was their bickering. As endearing as they could be for the first five seconds.

"Why you—" before Naruto could have launched himself at Sasuke's throat, she stepped between them.

"Remember that we are no longer back at the Academy. Put your differences aside and let me think for a strategy, will you? I can't think like this." the kunoichi paused, satisfied that she had their attention now. "As for why you need to work together: _**We are a team.**_ You heard about the Legendary Sannin, right?"

Recognition flickered in both of their eyes.

"They were old man Hokage's students." Naruto said, nodding in understanding.

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade. Said to be equal in strength, all have reached kage levels by now." Sasuke was a little more informed.

But they couldn't have possibly known as much as she did.

"Correct but do you know why they gained so much fame and why are they so feared?" she asked.

"Because they are exceptional shinobi."

"Because they are strong."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear even if they were right with their answers. As such, Sakura shook her head negatively. "Because together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Each had their own flaws and strengths, that the other two made up for. Apart, sure, they were strong...but together, they were _deadly._ Hanzo of the Salamander named them "The Sannin of Konoha" after being amazed by their teamwork."

Naruto looked positively shocked and impressed at the same time. "How do you know so much about them Sakura-chan?"

"I read a lot." she shrugged.

_Half-truths. I can always give those and not feel guilty._

"Something you could try to do once in a while dobe." Sasuke commented wryly.

Before another round of bickering could break out, however, Sakura kept going. "What I'm trying to say, is that we could use them as example and make sensei have no other choice but _to pass us."_ she paused, going over to Naruto's kitchen sink to fill herself a glass of water. Once she returned, she donned Shikamaru's thinking posture, except she didn't close her eyes.

She turned to face Sasuke first. "You are the fastest and the best at stealth."

He nodded, adding. "I can also set traps and use fire jutsu."

Sakura smiled, pretending to be impressed. She had to seem as if she didn't know all there was to know about their skills. She faced Naruto next. "You have tremendous amounts of chakra and great stamina, meaning you can still fight even after Sasuke and I are out of commotion. You can also improvise if things take a different turn."

"You bet Sakura-chan! Also, I know how to set pranks, how to do the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Sexy-No jutsu."

She deadpanned. "Err, that's great Naruto but I doubt the latter would do something against a jonin."

The blond laughed. "What are you talking about? If jii-chan fell for it..."

_He can't be serious._

Sakura knew nothing of that and she was refusing to think of the Sandaime as a pervert. However, one of his students did end up writing erotic novels...

"You don't know what you are talking about Naruto." Sasuke voiced out loud his doubts.

"I mean it guys! That's how it went. Just ask Iruka-sensei next time you see him."

She and Sasuke shared a look, silently deciding that they will do just that.

Clearing her throat, Sakura decided a change of subject was due. "As I was saying... Naruto, you are our trump card. The element of surprise and Sasuke, you are the shadows that work silently to accomplish the mission."

"What about you Sakura-chan?"

She grinned. "I have raw strength. My forte lays within taijutsu and chakra control, meaning that while you two are long distance fighters, I need to get close to land a hit. So, I will be in plain sight as a distraction. However, we will discuss more once we get there."

It was time.

 _Kakashi-sensei must be on his way right now._ She thought, as she glanced at the clock.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi was, simply put, baffled by the sight in front of him. Not one to show-up on time and knowing from experience that his tendencies could irk even the most patient of people, he did not expect a bunch of calm greetings. Two warm and cheerful exclamations of "Good morning!" from the brightly coloured genin and a nod of acknowledgement from the dark-haired one.

There wasn't even a hint of annoyance present in the air.

And Kakashi didn't like that.

_Maa, doesn't matter. I've got plenty of time._

Or that's what he told himself anyway.

Extracting from his shuriken pouch two bells, he started explaining. "You have the following task to accomplish. Take a bell from me and you pass. Fail, and like I told you yesterday, you get to return to the Academy." he paused, his visible eye crinkling with amusement. "One word of advice? Come at me with the intent to kill."

"We are three and you have got only two bells. Doesn't that mean one of us has no chance whatsoever of passing?" the girl deduced which wasn't all that surprising. The Sandaime had given him all their files so he knew of her intellect, apparently paling in comparison only to the one Shikaku's son possessed.

"That's exactly what it means."

He watched the boys give each other looks full of resentment and determination, anticipation in their frail limbs as if any minute now they'd start fighting each other. The girl, in contrast, seemed completely unfazed.

"Whatever you two are thinking right now...don't." Sakura spoke up, demanding attention...and obedience?

_This wasn't written in her file._

Kakashi thought, making a mental note to bring this up to the Hokage later. Iruka should observe his students better than this. What kind of chunin didn't know how to gather correct intel? They weren't at war for promotions to be carelessly given left and right because they needed man-power, as poor prepared as it was.

"You can begin." he announced.

The short, bratty one was busy shaking with laughter...and mocking him? If it weren't for their similar appearance, Kakashi wouldn't have thought him to be Minato's son. "You couldn't even dodge that eraser sensei! And you expect me to believe..."

_He knows nothing about wearing masks and using deceit as a weapon, does he?_

So far, the son of the White Fang had little hope for the blond to ever act _and_ look ( _he could as well be wearing a target sign on his forehead with all that orange)_ like a shinobi...or at least fill the standard requirements for the job.

He was bored already and the newest Icha Icha novel in his pocket was just waiting to be opened. Thus, upon deciding he had nothing better to do and that the brats didn't pose any sort of challenge, he pulled out Jiraya's masterpiece and started reading.

"What...WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! You are supposed to fight me!"

He hummed noncommittally, not looking up to see what he assumed to be an incredulous, angry facial expression that would sooner be labelled as 'constipated' than threatening in any way, shape or form. "Really now? I thought _you_ were supposed to be fighting me."

Naruto made a face, feeling confused and beyond frustrated. "That's the same thing dattebayo."

Another hum escaped his lips as he turned over a new page. "Maa, if you say so." he intoned indifferently.

That didn't really help the blond's growing temper. "THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR ATTITUDE! I'M KICKING YOUR BUTT RIGHT NOW!"

Kakashi easily dodged and parred the series of sloppy punches and kicks, never letting go of the book in his hands. It was routine. Naruto wasn't the first kid assigned to him to throw a tantrum and _he probably won't be the last either,_ his mind supplied with a barely suppressed groan. The Sandaime could be a stubborn old man when he wanted to be and there weren't any doubts that rookies will keep coming his way should he fail this year's bunch.

_Maybe if Sasuke and Sakura show some skill..._

He was desperate enough to pass them on a whim and say something along the lines of _"Naruto could grow and learn from these two."_ to the Hokage.

But then, he'd be stuck with them until he died...or they died and considering his past record Kakashi wouldn't put it past the universe to take a few more comrades away from him.

_One more reason for me to fail them._

Kakashi thought then continued the one-sided fight and his observation of the boy's skills, noting in the meantime that the other two knew better than to charge straight into battle without thinking of a plan beforehand. _No making use of the weapons at his disposal, minimal taijutsu skills at best, seemingly never-ending stamina because of the fox's chakra, tunnel vision, and... knowledge of the kage bunshin._

Well, Naruto's file was correct. It was a small consolation, he supposed although he felt severely disappointed. He had expected more of him and although his persistence was admirable...that wasn't enough.

_He has a tendency to fall for obvious traps as well._

The jonin sighed as he watched the blond boy dangle in the air after having tried to snatch the bell left conveniently on the ground.

"You aren't taking this test seriously, are you?" he questioned rhetorically.

"BUT I AM!" the son of the Yellow Flash argued passionately, struggling against the rope tied to his legs. "That was a cheap, dirty move you pulled there!"

"Maybe, but you fell for it. Shinobi don't fight fair, Naruto." What did he think they were doing? Posing as samurai? And even these men known for their unrivalled sense of honour have started picking up a thing or two from their _cheap, dirty_ ways as he had put it over the last decade.

It was human nature. To deceive.

Although he was seriously starting to doubt his sensei's son knew what deception and looking underneath the underneath even meant.

"Well, that's just unfair! The world is unfair dattebayo." the troublemaker mumbled, pouting in a childish manner.

Kakashi had to sigh and silently agree with him, going as far as to allow the blond a minute or so to make peace with that ( _even though Kami knew he still hadn't)._ Then he spoke. "So, what are you going to do about it?" he wondered casually, eyes glued to Jiraya's book.

"What?" Naruto whispered in disbelief, not having expected such answer. No, scratch that. He didn't expect an answer period. Which he hadn't been given anyway since that was a question.

"You resent how things are. You wish it were different. What will you do?"

"Eh..." he hesitated, before easily finding the solution. "I will become the greatest Hokage and change it of course!"

Kakashi was torn between laughing and crying at the irony of it all. It seemed the apple didn't fall away from the tree. "Right, and isn't the first step in that direction passing my test?"

_**Meanwhile...** _

Sakura had to fight the sudden urge to bang her head against a tree bark. Not only would the sound give away her position but it wouldn't do well to enter the fight with a concussion.

Thus, she resorted to mumbling colourful words that would make the boldest of sailors blush. The entire month she had spent drilling into Naruto's skull concepts such as _'stealth' 'plan first, act later' 'deception' 'analyse'_ proved to be useless the moment Kakashi-sensei pulled out his porn and Naruto, the moron he was, chose to take it as a personal offence.

_At least Sasuke is doing what he did last time._

It was a small consolation, Sakura supposed, but it was something and something will forever be better than nothing. Though don't let that fool you. In no way, shape or form was she letting the antisocial prodigy do his own thing again. The fact he was hiding like her and Kakashi was busy giving a tied-up Naruto the lecture of his life only meant it was safe for her to move to persuade him.

Easier said than done though as it got proven a few minutes later upon finding his location. She decided then. The Uchiha was the most stubborn, stuck-up, in dire need of an attitude adjustment clan there was.

"Let's work together." There. She had kept it simple enough and spared him the lecture she had initially planned on giving. Besides, there wasn't any doubt Kakashi will have plenty to say about their performance after this was over.

"No." And Sasuke had kept it even simpler _(what did she expect really?)_ than she had. He wasn't looking at her and he wasn't giving any indication that he planned on doing it any time soon either. No, he was too busy attaching several different shuriken to ninja wires to do that. For a moment, Sakura felt as if she was back in the future, trying to reason with Tenten. The bun-haired kunoichi could be...very determinated, to say the least.

She considered humouring him...for now anyways. "Why not? You saw how Kakashi-sensei toyed with Naruto. We are no match for him on our own."

He gave her a dark look as if saying _did you seriously just compare me with him?_ before his hand hesitated over the ninja wires, considering his options. "There are only two bells, Sakura."

_Like I don't know that._

She snorted, arms crossed over her chest, voice laced with sarcasm. "I've noticed."

Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows, observing her quietly for a few moments. _When did she grow a backbone? And what happened to 'Sasuke-kun?'_ Not that he missed being addressed as such. In all honesty, having one less fangirl was a win more than a loss but something didn't add up and if he stopped to think about her behaviour yesterday...

In a flash, Sakura found herself tackled to the ground, kunai against her throat and looking up at a very angry and suspicious Uchiha staring down at her.

"What is wrong with you?! You will end up blowing our cover!" she half-whispered, half-screamed.

"You mean _your cover._ Who sent you? Iwa, Kumo, Suna?" he demanded, inching the blade closer to her neck.

_He thinks I'm a spy?_

She laughed slightly. "You are ridiculous, Sasuke."

Mocking him didn't help her situation though because, if anything, his aura only darkened. "You have the right looks." he mused, his hold tightening around one of her wrists. "But not the personality. That's what gave you away."

She was no longer amused now as she glared up at him. "Kami, how much more conceited can you get? Just because I don't like you anymore that doesn't mean..." _lie, you know you do._

_And some part of you probably always will._

"Like I care whether Sakura likes me or not." he scoffed, irritated, and fed up with her and Kakashi and the whole concept of a second genin exam. "Did you kill her?"

There was something about the way he asked that made her eyes soften.

She refused to dwell on that though. Then she decided they have lost enough time messing around. Naruto couldn't entertain Kakashi-sensei forever. Walk all over his nerves? Sure, but not keep him occupied during the entire test.

"Would you believe me if I told you something only "Sakura" would know?

Silence and then—

"What did I tell her when we first talked?"

Her lips curled up into a small smile. That was a trick question. She remembered that day clearly. It had been lunch break and she had just worked out the courage needed to talk to him. It was the first spring Sasuke spent without his family. They were eight and she had been too young and naive to know better. "I was the only one who talked. You didn't say anything. Then I continued bothering you every day after that, until you finally did. There were few words, mostly to leave you alone but I was happy nevertheless."

Sasuke seemed satisfied with her answer, if a little ashamed about making such an assumption and threatening her. Letting go of her wrist, he put the kunai back in his pouch and stood up from the grass, eyes narrowed when he could no longer see Kakashi.

Sakura followed his lead, having a similar problem of her own. _Where is Naruto?_ Not that she preferred having him caught in traps but now she had no idea where to look for him. Maybe he would work with her and they could rub it in Sasuke's face later.

The air shifted and a sudden breeze came, carrying leaves.

_Wait a second._

She recognized this. It was a little different than last time though. This one was stronger. Did Kakashi cast his genjutsu onto both of them?

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she had to ask.

A grunt was his "graceful" response. For her own sake, Sakura chose to take it as one of agreement because she didn't have the patience, nor the time to get angry over his ice-cube language skills.

Shrugging impassively at the army of rogue-nin walking towards them, she wrapped her left hand around her index finger, willing her chakra to disperse the illusion. " _Kai."_

The Copy-nin looked on with mild interest as the two children effectively broke through his genjutsu. He had expected this from Sasuke since the Uchiha were usually well-rounded, knowledgeable in all areas. And given Sakura's intelligence and attention to detail, he suspected it gave her the edge needed to become a genjutsu specialist in the future.

"Go free Naruto."

The girl had been careful and wise enough to whisper the words but Kakashi had reading lips mastered down to an art.

The dark-haired survivor's reaction was a menacing scowl that looked eerily similar to what he would have given anyone who tried to boss him around back in the day ( _well, anyone who was a rank or ranks below him)._ Kakashi had respect for his superiors.

"Remember when I told you about me acting as a distraction? Now is the time." the pinkette insisted in an attempt to convince him to do the opposite of fighting alone.

* * *

Truth be told, Sasuke didn't know why he was listening to _her_ of all people. He doubted she'd last against Kakashi any longer than Naruto had. Maybe even less since the dobe had a substantial amount of stamina whereas Sakura looked skinny and fragile to the point a merciless wind could knock her out. She must have lied or something when telling them she had taijutsu skills and raw power. He will see for himself soon enough, however.

After he freed the idiot.

"Sasuke! Don't tell me you got a bell already! Also, where is Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined, being the epitome of annoyance at the moment.

He rolled his eyes, firing his kunai at the rope tied around his legs. The speed and force of his aim cutting it off and making the resident troublemaker hit the ground with a comical thud.

"A warning first would have been nice dattebayo. I thought you came to make fun of me." he complained loudly, nursing an injured behind.

"Not my fault if you don't know how to fall properly." Sasuke intoned, turning around, and walking back to where he came from.

"You didn't answer my quest—"

He cut him off. "She is fighting Kakashi."

Naruto did a double-take, eyes widened in disbelief before he shuddered at the memory of having his door ko-ed by the pink-haired girl. "You can scoff all you want teme but I know for a fact Sakura-chan is crazy strong! Have you seen what she did to my door dattebayo?" he asked, giving him a serious look before going on ahead to ramble. "I'm not upset though. She probably doesn't know her own strength and she felt so guilty afterwards that she promised to buy me another one! Can you believe that? And this past month she had been so nice to me too and fuck teme, what did I do to deserve her?"

Sasuke, frankly, had stopped listening after hearing the unbelievable. The blond's door looked like it was decades old but he had also seen the marks left on the walls where the hinges used to be. He was trying to comprehend how Sakura could have done that with her bare hands alone.

_Hn, maybe he knows something._

"How does she have this strength?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in a clueless sort of way. "I dunno. She had mentioned something once about training hard and chakra but hell if I understood. You don't talk that kind of stuff over ramen if you want me to pay attention. Besides, it seemed like she was mumbling to herself dattebayo."

* * *

Kakashi hadn't been able to pull out his book this time and not because he didn't want to, Kami knew he did, but compared to Naruto, Sakura was... skilled. And clever for her age and... ah, resourceful too.

It came as a complete surprise. Iruka must have been drunk on sake ( _he didn't look like he could hold his liquor so it made sense to Kakashi)_ when he wrote her file. Almost nothing seemed to match-up. So far during the fight he had been assaulted with weapons, traps, _Academy students weren't supposed to know how to throw senbon._ He had been careless, underestimating her and thus leaving an opening.

Only years of experience, muscle memory and sharp reflexes ensured he dodged that...flying needle. It wouldn't have hurt _unless she also knew medical ninjutsu which he somehow doubted_ for the sake of his sanity if nothing else.

"Maa, Sakura, it seems the boys aren't coming to your rescue."

It was one of the oldest tricks in the book: taunt your opponent to the point they get distracted and lower their guard. It's guaranteed to work unless said opponent has the patience of a saint, much like the Yondaime did or they were smarter than to fall for that.

"I can pull my own weight sensei. Don't worry." she answered and the smile she gave him resembled Rin's.

He ignored the way his heart painfully clenched, approaching steadily. Sakura had fared well against him from a distance, proof that a strategic mind like hers could turn the scales in a fight.

Kakashi was curious to see how things will turn out in a taijutsu spar.

It was safe to say he almost had a heart attack the moment he was forced to dodge a chakra infused punch. Sakura's fist hit the tree bark instead and although it was still intact, he couldn't deny some serious damage had been done to it. He knew of only one person capable of leaving behind such destruction in her wake and that was Tsunade of the Sannin.

Kakashi took back what he thought earlier. Sakura wasn't like his deceased female teammate. Far from it actually. Whereas Rin was soft, cotton and silk, the pink-haired girl was forged of iron. She didn't look the part but honestly, that only meant she had a wild card in her strength.

All things considered, he decided that Sakura was the closest to what a Konoha shinobi was supposed to represent.

_The other two will be a nightmare though._

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

"Katon: Grand Fireball jutsu!"

No sooner did he finish thinking that the boys mentioned above entered the fight, each doing their own thing although the sync they had going on together was impressive. It took years for teams to reach that level. Some never did.

Kakashi moved quickly, leaving some clones to defend himself against the ones Naruto had made before his hands flew over the necessary seals, creating a water jutsu to neutralize Sasuke's fire.

Mentally, he got working on the last analysis of Team 7. _One elemental affinity, skilled with kunai and shuriken, much like Itachi had been, taijutsu skills above average but below Sakura's._ In time, Kakashi was sure even his own will pale in comparison to the powerhouse the girl could become in the future. He continued. _No Sharingan yet. Faster than the other two, quick thinking._

By the time the alarm bell rang, a clear sign their allowed time to snatch a bell ended, all three of them were out of breath. Sakura was tired the most and Naruto the least.

"Alright, time's up." he declared.

"You will send us back to the Academy, won't you?" the Uzumaki blond asked dejectedly, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Kakashi hummed noncommittally. "I could but you have fought for these bells pretty hard, if I do say so myself. I'm not cruel. Two of you get to stay and one leaves." he extended his hand, waiting for their reactions.

Surprisingly or not, Sakura was the first to step forward, going as far as to take both bells. She looked down at them for a few seconds. "I will go back."

Naruto jumped as if burned, ready to protest from the top of his lungs but stopped himself when her eyes flickered in his direction. "Hear me out first." was her demand.

He was quiet after that.

"You have a dream, don't you? And how do you expect to accomplish it if you remain a genin forever? It doesn't work like that Naruto and you know it. I want _you_ to become Hokage and if I have to take a step back for that to happen..." she paused, giving him a gentle smile that together with her speech had the blond struggling not to cry. "I will gladly do so."

"Sakura-chan..." he sniffed, clutching the bell she left in his hand.

Then she turned to face the dark- haired Uchiha. "We have had our differences, true and I'm aware you don't think much of me other than a nuisance that you could happily do without but..." she reached out for his hand, leaving the other bell there. "Believe I'm honest when I say that I want you to restore your clan back to its formal glory." she laughed slightly. "You can't do that as a genin, can you Sasuke?"

Kakashi watched the emotional exchanges, for once feeling like a jerk. No other team he had been given had such bonds. He didn't think they were aware yet of how deep of an impact each of them had left onto another.

On that note, the Copy Cat ninja was clueless as well regarding the impact _they_ will be having on _him_ in the future.

"No, this isn't fair to you Sakura-chan. Thank you but I can't accept this. Not if it means I will be taking away your future as a great ninja." Naruto spoke-up with not a silver of doubt in his voice, walking up to her and returning the bell.

Kakashi looked at the last member from the corner of his eye.

"As annoying as you are Sakura..." Sasuke began, stuffing one of his hands inside the pocket of his pants. "And as much as you damage my eardrums on a daily basis dobe..." he paused, stopping in front of the two of them. "You deserve this more than I do." he left the bell in Naruto's frozen hand, seeing as Sakura already had one of her own.

"What about...?"

He cut them off. "I don't need a promotion to fulfil my goal unlike you two."

The jonin didn't know whether he had just cursed himself or if they were a blessing in disguise by choosing his next words.

"Maa, don't start crying now my cute little genin. You all pass." he smiled innocently when three pairs of angry eyes turned on him and... _was that killer intent coming from all three of them?_

"Care to explain sensei?" Naruto arched an accusing brow.

Sakura cracked her knuckles.

And Sasuke looked like he might awaken his Sharingan right then and there.

Kakashi was going to have a serious talk with the Sandaime...after he escaped this predicament. He rose his hands in a placate gesture. "The whole point was for you to work as a team and you have proven to me that you can and are willing to unlike all the other genin I had failed in the past." his eyes flickered to the Memorial Stone, images of a loud, always-late teammate wearing ridiculous goggles clouding his vision as if it was only yesterday that he had last seen him. He recited the phrase he knew by heart. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their comrades are even lower than scum."

Sakura was the first one to break the silence. "Wise words Kakashi-sensei."

He eye-smiled as he turned to face them. "I didn't always use to believe that, you know."

"Who said them for the first time?" Naruto probed curiously.

"A friend."

Sasuke glanced back at the Memorial Stone and understood. He grabbed the blond by the collar of his jumpsuit before he could have said something to further upset Kakashi. "Go eat something usuratonkachi. I can hear your stomach growling from here."

"HEY! IT DOESN'T-..."

A loud sound echoed next.

Sakura threw her head back and laughed like she hadn't in a long time.

Sasuke was sporting an all-knowing smirk.

Naruto ran for the bento boxes like his life depended on it, blushing the entire time.

And Kakashi?

He felt something he hadn't thought he'd ever feel again. A sense of belonging and a fierce desire to protect the children standing in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here it is, the bell test! Please let me know what you think of it. Thank you for supporting this story!


	7. Chapter 7

They met as a team the following day. Naruto's excitement at having passed the bell test knew no bounds and, if one looked carefully enough, they'd see that even Sasuke looked mildly pleased with the way things had turned out.

Nevertheless to say, their good mood drastically dropped the moment their masked sensei had announced, too cheerful for Sakura's liking and much to the boys' dismay that "no, Naruto, we are not saving any princess or fighting any enemies today." and that "no, Sasuke, we are not training either."

It had been easy for her to realize what awaited them.

Kakashi, having noticed her lack of interest in guessing today's objective, had probed. "Well Sakura, aren't you curious to know?"

_I'd rather don't, to be honest._

She kept these thoughts to herself however, and clicked her tongue. "Chores." she answered flatly.

Both sensei and student chose to ignore Naruto's cry of indignation.

"Now, now Sakura-chan, they aren't chores but D-rank missions that involve helping out our citizens." he amended. Too bad that she knew enough of emotional blackmail to recognise it and brush it off with little to no guilt.

She was merciless when she spoke next. "If that's what you want to call gardening, cleaning, buying groceries, walking dogs and babysitting..."

Sasuke's eye twitched in displeasure, apparently not liking the idea any more than Naruto did.

"They are important for your growth as ninja." Kakashi insisted, as a last resort.

She almost laughed.

_Common sense? What's that, sensei?_

As far as Sakura was aware of, that didn't apply to shinobi. Why learn how to make a steak when you could treat yourself to a nice restaurant, considering how many tears you have shed and how much you have sweated and how much blood you have spilled, your own and the enemy's and fuck, you don't even notice the difference anymore unless it hurts.

Why master the art of cleaning your house when you could pay a bunch of genin that frankly remind you so much of yourself _young, stupid, god so stupid, hopeful (you want to tell them hope is a bitch but you never do because you are still stupid and still hoping after all these years and what would that make you then? a hypocrite. so, you bite your lip and offer them juice and tell them to fall in love later and cherish their team and grow some muscle and don't be useless like you were, still are and fuck, you feel like hugging them sometimes because they are too young for this shit and nobody really prepares you for pain)_

Why give birth to a child (a small human being, worthy of all that is good in the world) that could, _most probably would,_ become an orphan _(because it will happen, you know it will and you can only pray that it's later rather than sooner, ninja don't live long, death is their shadow, always, no matter how brilliant you get, look at Naruto's parents, at Jiraya-sama, at the Third Hokage)_

And why walk a dog when you can barely move from point A to point B after a ridiculous long mission _(the client lied, you didn't move fast enough, if you even did at all and your teammate is snoring so loud he might wake-up the dead but you never hit him because for once he looks peaceful and shit he deserves that and you have been a bitch for long enough so you just lay there, staring, like an idiot and you regret and feel guilty and wish to turn back time but you know you can't and if you fall asleep at sunrise then it's your fault. don't you know better than to miss out on sleep during a mission?_

or after an even more ridiculous training session ( _it rained, it hadn't rained in a month so it makes sense and yet that knowledge doesn't make you any less angry because that means the training grounds are muddy and just when you thought the dirt you had gotten yourself into couldn't be any deeper...there it is. your knuckles bleed, you forgot your gloves for some reason or maybe you didn't take them on purpose. who knows? you have always been a masochist and you train and train because you know war is coming and failing isn't an option. you fight and bleed until there is barely any chakra left in your body to heal the injures you have gained tonight and you cry and scream and rage but suck it up in the end because Konoha needs warriors and you have denied your role for long enough.)_

Of course, none of the above ever left her mouth.

"I do enough of them at home, sensei." she whined.

The jonin gave her what was supposed to look like a sympathetic glance but that turned out to be something else entirely. _Right._ Sakura had nearly forgotten how much fun Kakashi used to have at their expense back in the day. Also, that damned mask he wore helped conceal his amusement just fine.

"Aa but the boys here aren't as experienced with matters of the house, not like you are. Besides, teammates suffer together." Kakashi paused, quirking a brow. "Hadn't we agreed on that yesterday?"

He was mocking her, that much was obvious.

Sakura scowled. She did not train her butt off under Tsunade's tutelage and learned the context of dozen medical books only to be stuck completing D-rank missions now. But what did she expect? She was back in her twelve-year-old shoes. Nobody cared that she had worn them once. They fit...even if her mind didn't, couldn't, _would never be the same._

A grin creased her lips.

_Two can play this game Kakashi-sensei._

"Well, when you put it that like that..." she trailed off, ducking her head. "We will do them. Together." she glanced at her teammates. "Right, guys?"

Sasuke was busy glaring at the ground as if it had brought him great offend. One could only guess what was going through his head right now and Naruto had looked her way as if saying _I thought you were our last hope Sakura-chan!_

As such, their answers were a barely audible "Hn" and a, surprisingly or not, resigned "Fine" respectively.

Kakashi nodded in approval, slapping his hands together. "Glad I made myself understood. Let's get going then."

When they reached the Hokage Tower, Sakura hesitated near the door. Was she prepared to see another ghost? _He is alive now, baka._ She tried telling herself, tried to move one foot in front of the other but they wouldn't budge. If she walked through that door, she'd be reminded of _how real all of this is_ and that reality had been cruel, _will be cruel again._ Until today, it had been easy to pretend, treat her surroundings as if they were nothing but a dream, a bittersweet dream that spoke of a childhood long gone. Now she had to face everything once more. _Orochimaru, The Sand's Invasion, Sasori, Pain, Obito, Madara..._

Her head was pounding. She couldn't do this now any better than she had done it last time. What had she been thinking?

"Sakura-chan."

Jarred from her thoughts, she blinked at the sight of Naruto standing so close to her. _When did he move?_ She hadn't seen him do it. He was looking at her worryingly. In front of them, Kakashi was observing and Sasuke...

She couldn't even meet his eyes, not after remembering. _The Forest of Death, the cursed mark, leaving, the rescue mission..._

This time Naruto had to physically bring her back to the present. His hand had gripped her forearm, firmly enough that her war-shaped reflexes had almost kicked in and punched him in the gut.

Sakura had stopped her fist from colliding...or rather, _somebody else did_ , she realized with shame. Onyx met jade green and the startling realization of what she almost did and the fact that _he_ felt the need to interfere...

She adverted her eyes when he released her and turned to face a shocked Naruto, whose confused expression tinged with concern was honestly too much for her to bear. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I had a nightmare last night and..."

 _If you can call years of horrible events, of helplessness, of pain, that._ She thought to herself.

"Sometimes you think it hadn't ended."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise but by the time she dared look at Sasuke, he had turned to face the door leading to the Hokage's office, hands inside his pockets. She couldn't have explained it any better than he did and for the first time in her life, Sakura felt like she finally understood.

"Come on, my cute little genin. It happens to everyone. I'm sure Naruto has already forgiven you..." Kakashi glanced in the blond's direction, his tone a tad too cheerful for it to be authentic.

"Of course I did!" he exclaimed, nodding vehemently. "Don't sweat it, Sakura-chan. Nightmares are terrible." he shuddered, as if remembering the ones _he_ had from time to time.

_Naruto seems honest and all, but still..._

A ninja should always be in control of their actions. Whether said ninja had suffered a trauma or not. That wasn't a justifiable excuse.

"See Sakura? It's like we all told you." Kakashi added, as a last attempt to get them moving. Honestly now, he felt too old for...whatever that moment between youngsters had been.

A polite knock and a "Come in" from a muffled voice later and that's how Team Seven found itself on the receiving end of the Sandaime's calculating gaze. The years had done nothing to worsen it and that was remarkable in Sakura's books. He looked exactly as she remembered. Just...more real. But there were also new aspects added to her memory now, like the details she had been too unexperienced the first time around to notice.

"Kakashi. I was expecting you sooner than this but considering your past record of tardiness...arriving only a few minutes late is an outstanding improvement."

He wasn't sarcastic. That was probably the funniest part.

She felt guilty though. Her sensei would have been on time for once if it weren't for her. It made Sakura wonder how many of his lame excuses had actually occurred. Maybe his luck was just that bad. "Ano, Hokage-sama..."

She stopped. _Something is in my hair._ she realized with a startle. Narrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Sakura looked up only to see Kakashi eye-smiling down at her, ruffling her pink locks as he did so.

"Maa, you know me Lord Third. I tend to get lost on the path of life too often for my own good." he paused. "My apologizes."

That day, they all saw Kakashi in a different light.

Which negatively changed a few moments later.

"YOU WANT US TO DO WHAT?!" Naruto's loud outburst made several people in the office lose their hearing, Sarutobi included.

Never mind the fact that they were now outside the Hokage Tower.

"Keep it down, will you dobe?" Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"I don't see the problem, Naruto. Those are perfectly reasonable D-rank missions." Kakashi calmly intoned as he gestured with a hand towards the list he had given to Sakura a few minutes prior the outburst.

The blond wasn't convinced, however. He was busy sulking as he kept looking over her shoulder at the tasks they had to accomplish.

"What's Operation Tora about?" Sasuke asked, since it seemed to be the only thing that sounded mildly related to shinobi matters. If it has a code name, that means it must be treated with caution and seriousness.

The pink-haired girl groaned. _"_ You are cruel Kakashi-sensei. Everyone knows how the daimyo's wife treats her cat and how the cat behaves as a result of trauma."

"A cat? Who names a cat Tora?" **(name meaning: tiger)**

"The daimyo's wife?"

"Apparently not everyone knows." Kakashi argued. "And to answer your question Sasuke, the aim of the mission is to catch Tora and return it to its owner. Keep in mind that it's not as easy as it looks. This will teach you stealth and will challenge you to think outside the box." then he threw his other student a look. "Honestly Naruto, I expected you to be excited about this. It's like planning and carrying out a prank."

Said boy looked mortified. He weakly protested. "Pranks are art sensei. Whatever that cat is...it sure as hell ain't worth my time."

Sasuke let out a dignified scoff. "I have to agree with Naruto on this one."

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei..." the pinkette began.

He looked tired...and pissed off. "Yes, Sakura?"

 _I will only make it worse then._ She thought to herself, amused. "How about a compromise?" That caught everyone's attention. "Today, we agree to do everything that's on the list, but tomorrow you must teach us something new, as well as test us for chakra nature." she grinned. "I've always wanted to know which one is mine!"

All three of them were silent for a while.

"Chakra nature?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck.

"Seriously dobe." Sasuke shook his head as if saying _what a lost cause._

Kakashi was baffled... _again_. He had expected a tantrum (it was a given considering who he had on his team), a little protesting here and there and then finally, resigned silence. But this...

_Sakura has seized the opportunity just like a politician and addressed it with the cleverness of a shinobi._

"Each one of us has a chakra nature. We are born naturally inclined towards an element. As ninja advance in rank and skill, they can learn to use a second or maybe even a third one, though those cases are rare." he explained, arching a brow. "Understood, Naruto?"

He nodded with a nervous chuckle. "Now that you mentioned it sensei, I remember Sakura-chan telling me something similar..."

Her eyebrow twitched. "That's because I did tutor you for a month! What were you thinking about while I was talking?" she sighed, shaking her head. "On a second thought, don't tell me." Turning to face the Copy-Cat ninja, Sakura did her most adorable pout.

Now Kakashi was a skilled jonin. A brilliant one even (not his words). He had been ANBU captain and had graduated the Academy when he was but five years old. All that had to count for something. It must have prepared him for this situation.

It must have, right?

Then why, _Kami why,_ was he letting a pink-haired brat who, by all means, was half his age and more than half his height and weight, win?

It was simple really.

Haruno Sakura was an adorable kid who knew how to make grown-men do her bidding. It was a fact and Kakashi wasn't one to argue with facts. _Besides, it's a compromise._ He told himself. _It's not like she is trying to undermine me._

Little did he know though how today it's a compromise and tomorrow a permanent hold over his heart strings.

"Very well. I expect them to be done without complaining though." he relented.

The time traveller was barely able to suppress a victorious grin. The boys, however, were visibly stunned by the outcome. She internally sighed. Did they really think she'd let them go through that without having a trick up her sleeve? They had a lot to learn about Future Sakura...and her spine of iron.

After recovering, Naruto cracked-up. "You want peace and quiet to read your porn, is that it?!" Granted how loudly he had accused him, it wasn't a surprise that several people on the streets gave the masked shinobi looks as they passed him by.

 _And...bull's eye._ Sakura was trying her hardest not to laugh since Kakashi looked as if he had just lost the will to live.

She blinked when Sasuke had snatched the list from her hands. _His patience must be wearing thin._ She mused, watching him shove the piece of paper inside his pocket then grab both her and Naruto by the arm. "Let's go before he changes his mind, idiot." he told the latter.

Nevertheless to say, Kakashi never let them forget what happens when someone embarrasses him in public. He had even gone out of his way to clarify that no, there are no exceptions he is willing to make to the rule.

Not even for his cute little genin.

* * *

 _Compromises Sakura. They are important._ She told herself repeatedly that morning after waking-up and remembering what a disaster yesterday had been. She had tried, in vain, to get Naruto and Sasuke to cooperate, even if it were for tasks as boring and simple as D-rank missions.

They didn't budge. No matter what she told them. The only time she had managed to get out a reaction other than blatant refusal was when she mentioned the bell test and how teamwork had made the difference between genin and Academy brat.

Maybe that would have worked, had it not been for their competitive streak. Or rather, Naruto's. Sasuke had been unfazed during the whole ordeal. In many ways, it felt like they treated each other worse than normal. Sakura hoped they got their act together before she decided to do it for them.

_Without using words this time._

After pulling up her hair in a messy bun, the time traveller stopped to look out the window. She narrowed her eyebrows in disbelief at the sight, thinking that maybe she was still tired, tired enough to conjure people out of thin air with her imagination.

That wasn't the case though.

 _Lee_ was there. Doing laps around the village and she had looked out the window just in time to catch him running on the street where her apartment was. Refusing to let such an opportunity pass her by, Sakura opened her window and yelled loud enough to wake-up her mother. Kizashi was at work. "Ohayo!"

The puzzled expression on his face was priceless. He stopped, looking in all directions until he found the owner of the voice. "O-Ohayo, miss!" he greeted, falling into a respectful bow.

Sakura thought it was cute how flustered he looked. She stole a glance at the clock on her bedside table. _I have plenty of time to train until Kakashi-sensei shows-up._ She faced Lee again. "Would you mind if I join you on your morning run?"

His eyes brightened a great deal. "Not at all! I shall do some push-ups while I wait for you."

She chuckled. His determination was something else entirely. She had been stupid back then, to ignore and treat him badly. _Honestly, how many people would have been open to the idea of training with a stranger?_

Not many, and luckily for Sakura, Lee wasn't one of them.

"What are you doing up this early?!" Mebuki demanded to know, hands on her hips as she barged inside her room.

She sweatdropped. "I'm going training, mom."

"Oh." was all she said as she stifled a yawn and left her alone to get ready.

Sakura hadn't known what to expect at first but thankfully Lee didn't seem to have fallen in love with her at first sight like he did at The Chunin Exams.

He was a slave driver. In a good way, though. His resilience made her want to be better, to run more, to run faster, to push herself to her limits. She had the will but sadly, not the stamina and four laps around Konoha later had made that very clear to Sakura.

_Did my body really use to be this weak?_

She didn't want to believe that, though the burning pain in her limbs should have been more than enough to prove it. Lee had taken pity on her, aware not everyone could withstand his training routine and suggested they sit down somewhere, drink some water, and get to know each other.

Sakura had liked that idea very much. She got to find out a lot of things about the boy clad in green spandex. Lee was an orphan, much like Naruto was. She had assumed that but wasn't entirely sure. His life had been tough. A family of shinobi had adopted him once but gave him up once they discovered he couldn't mould chakra, not like most people could. Sakura had clenched her fists then with barely restrained anger. He had assured her that Team Guy was all the family he needed. He told her about Neji and Tenten and about his sensei, of course. He told her that taijutsu was his biggest passion and how he'd like to be a teacher someday to all the kids who aren't born talented and that have to rely on hard work to make a living and name for themselves.

Her respect for Lee grew a little more in those few hours they got to spend together before they had to part ways. She had told him little about herself with the promise of sharing more if they met again for running.

Nevertheless to say, she knew what she will be doing early in the morning from now on.

When she met her team for today's training, Sakura looked less like a warrior princess and more like a... well, just a warrior, period. Her messy bun hadn't survived Lee's routine, not any more than her blue sandals had. As such, her pink her was dishevelled and possibly tangled up in nots and her feet were a little bloody and her dress a little dusty, and if the smile she gave them seemed tired, well...nobody looked perfect in the mornings.

Compared to her, Sasuke and Naruto resembled fashion models. Err...almost, the brooding and the orange jumpsuit respectively kind of ruined it.

And though Sakura had, with experience, managed to distract the blond (honestly, Naruto could fuss over someone he cared for just a like a mother hen) and Sasuke's interest had been minimal at best, barely visible in the small arch of his brow...Kakashi was a different story all together.

"Boys..." he had begun with a calmness that sounded far more dangerous than outright anger. "I thought the lesson I gave you about teamwork had gotten into your skulls." he closed his book shut. She cringed at the loud sound it made. "When your teammate comes to our meeting spot looking like Sakura is currently looking, you don't _nag_ at her about it." he looked at Naruto when he said that. "And you don't brush it off and look in the opposite direction either." at this, he threw a meaningful glance in Sasuke's direction. When he turned to face her, he added cheerfully. "But ask her who are you supposed to kill today."

A nervous laugh escaped her. "I'm alright Kakashi-sensei. I just finished training before I got here."

 _Had a long pause to catch my breath even._ She mentally added.

"What kind of training?"

"I ran laps around Konoha."

"With whom?"

_How does he even know I had company?_

Sakura grimaced. She had hoped to keep it a secret, for some time, if only to shock them with her progress one day. But fate, or rather her sensei, had other plans it seemed. "Rock Lee."

Kakashi looked positively mortified by her declaration, yet unsurprised at the same time as if the stars aligned and things had started to make sense.

Naruto, however, didn't look pacified in the least. "Who's that Sakura-chan?" he asked, visibly curious...and disturbed. Before she could have vocalized a response though, he continued. "You are not dating him, are you?!"

Their sensei had just turned three shades paler. Sakura hoped he didn't have a low blood pressure. Kakashi was currently looking up at the heavens, as if he was searching for some gods that he couldn't have been bothered with prior to Naruto's assumption. She could even imagine him thinking. _'Not Guy's student, I see enough of the man as it is.'_

"No. Lee-san and I had just met."

"Sakura-chan." Naruto whined, Sasuke looked annoyed by the trivial matter they were currently debating and Kakashi looked like a man whose prayers have just been answered.

She sighed. "What Naruto?"

"Your answer wasn't clear enough."

_Kami give me patience._

She loved him, she really did but her feet hurt, she felt dirty and to make it worse, Sasuke's glare on her person was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore and what's with that bandage wrapped around his hand anyway...

_Shit._

Yesterday, he had stopped her fist and though Sakura didn't remember gathering chakra to enhance the force of the punch, she wasn't aware she had been aiming for Naruto and not for a non-existent Orochimaru either...

A direct hit from a chakra infused punch not only was painful, but could also lead to problems in the long run if it wasn't treated.

_Sasuke should have more common sense than this._

She opened her mouth, then closed it, stomping on the overwhelming urge characteristic to medic-nin. Her healing abilities were close to non-existent now. Plus, she doubted adding insult to injury would be a good thing. Sasuke had his pride...and she had hers. As such, she turned to face an expectant looking Naruto who was still waiting for a ' _clear answer.'_

"I'm not planning on dating anybody." she paused. That was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She wanted to train, wanted to learn something. "Kakashi-sensei, your promise..."

Said man eye-smiled at them.

"Let's begin then."


	8. Chapter 8

"Me first! Me first!" Naruto exclaimed, a lovable goofball through and through. Her lips couldn't help but curl upwards because of his antics.

Kakashi swatted his hands away. " _Ladies_ first." he chided the blond, handing her a piece of chakra induction paper.

The tips of Naruto's ears turned red. He hmphed and looked in the opposite direction. "Right. Of course, I knew that."

"Tch, dobe." Sasuke smirked with all the smugness of his younger self.

"Why you—"

As the boys of Team 7 argued, Sakura pushed a small, controlled wave of life energy into the paper, watching it become wet. Having known beforehand what her affinity is, the outcome didn't surprise her but for the sake of keeping up appearances, she faked a convincing reaction.

"Guys, look."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow while Naruto gave her a thumbs-up. "You have water! That's great Sakura-chan!" he paused, impatience radiating off him in waves. "Can I try now Kakashi-sensei?"

The jonin internally sighed then shoved one of the papers under his nose anyway. "Learn to be patient." The knucklehead reminded him too much of a certain redhead.

"Hai, hai." Naruto agreed before directing a volatile flux of chakra towards the paper, making it split in two. He rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. "Seems like I ruined it. My bad, sensei."

The pink-haired girl looked at him in disbelief. "Silly." she breathed, pocking his nose with her thumb. "You ruined nothing. True, you could have been a little more sensible with your approach..." she trailed off. "But it worked nevertheless. It split in half because you have wind as your element."

Kakashi backed her up with additional information. "Wind is the rarest affinity in The Land of Fire. Team Eight' sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, has it." he looked contemplative as he said it.

Sakura wondered if they were having similar thoughts running through their heads. _I will have to bring up the subject later._ The Konoha Twelve could benefit a great deal from being taught by more than one teacher.

"The Yondaime was renowned for it as well." she added, if only to ruffle Naruto's feathers a little bit.

Said blond got uncharacteristically afterwards. It was the calm before the storm, however, since moments later he attached himself to Kakashi-sensei's hip, much to the jonin's dismay. "You have to teach me how to master it." he pleaded.

A hand shot forward, grabbing him by the collar of his jumpsuit and yanking him backwards. "Just now he told you to be patient." Sasuke intoned.

"Are you jealous teme? Is that it?" Naruto nudged him in the arm and grinned, much like a Cheshire cat would.

He let out a dignified scoff. "As if." With a shove, the blond was out of his personal space in an instant. He hoped he'd stay out.

Sakura watched the interaction, suppressing a smile. "Your turn now Sasuke."

"I already know mine." he retorted.

 _Somehow, I doubt it._ she thought.

"The Uchiha clan is known for their Fire jutsu. Sometimes chakra nature is genetic, but other times it isn't which is why we are doing this." Kakashi told him.

His eyes narrowed, sceptical, before he wordlessly completed the task. To his astonishment, the result wasn't the one he had expected. Instead of burning, the paper wrinkled.

"What does that mean?" Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"It means..." The Copy Ninja took the chakra paper from his student. "That Sasuke can use two elements. We already witnessed fire during The Bell Test. His affinity though, is lightning."

"Wait a second. Bastard here has not one, but two?" his eyebrows reached sky-rocket heights. "That's not fair! You said it yourself Kakashi-sensei. In general, shinobi can't handle more than one." Naruto protested.

Sensing his confusion and possibly envy, Sakura felt the need to interfere. "Prodigies are different. They have talent and potential in more areas." she acknowledged. "But hard work always has the final say."

She hadn't forgotten the amount of training she did, or the number of nights spent awake during her time as Tsunade-sama's pupil. When she wasn't off destroying parts of Konoha's forest or fighting invisible opponents, her mind was ambushed by the context of a dozen medical textbooks and that's leaving out the poison resistance she subjected her body to at the end of every week. Hard work had paid off. Her contribution in The Fourth Shinobi World War could attest to that.

_**Contribution that no one remembers but you.** _

Sakura's left eye twitched. _Shut up Inner or I swear to Kami I will find a way to send YOU there._

_**It was just an observation. No wonder why guys don't like you.** _

_We are the same person, idiot._

_**Not really. Had you left me in charge, at least once, you'd be knowing the difference.** _

_Scramble. Now._

_**As Outer wishes.** _

Kakashi's voice broke through her musings. "Sakura is right, Naruto. Potential and certainty aren't the same thing. Without working on it, neither she, you or Sasuke will master anything."

The blond nodded, pumping up his fist. "You can count on us to work at it until we succeed." he titled his head to a side, curious about something. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what's yours?"

She joined in. "And please don't do a rehearsal of your introduction on the roof by not telling us anything relevant."

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled in amusement. "Did I traumatize you that hard?"

"YOU WISH." Naruto got in his face.

"No." Sasuke stuffed his hands inside his pockets.

And Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you tried."

Kakashi looked up at the sky, wishing he'd be anywhere but here. He was certain his comrades couldn't possibly have a harder time with their students than he did. "Kids these days. No respect for their old sensei."

"Hn, you are twenty-six. I don't hear the Hokage complaining." Sasuke said, while her and Naruto tried to stifle the laughter threatening to escape them. But only after they recovered from the great shock of hearing their emotionally repressed teammate make a joke.

"And we do respect you Kakashi-sensei." he paused. "We just don't fear your authority." Naruto added good naturedly.

She resisted the urge to facepalm. "What they were trying _and_ failing to say, is that we loved you from the very beginning." Sakura smiled nervously, hoping to fix the mess they had just gotten themselves into. The boys didn't know Kakashi-sensei, not like she did. The man has had his name religiously written in every edition of the bingo book ever since his age reached a second digit _for crying out loud._

It was decided. Kakashi mused. Sakura was officially his favourite student. He ought to humour the boys now and get back at them later. His reputation would suffer otherwise. He caught a chakra induction paper between two of his fingers. It wrinkled immediately. "Now that I satisfied your curious minds, it's time we got started on the practical side of today. "

"Wait." Sasuke glanced at him, fists clenched. "Naruto has wind while Sakura has water but we have the same chakra nature which makes it possible for me to learn lightning jutsu from you."

The pink-haired girl arched a teasing brow. "Who is the impatient one now?"

"Shut-up." The Uchiha heir snapped harshly.

Naruto's forehead creased into a frown and his usually clear blue eyes darkened in colour. "Hey, don't talk to her like that. I get you have a stick up your—"

She caught his wrist and shook her head 'no'. This brought back memories. In the past, Sasuke would always say something hurtful, whether intentional or not and Naruto would immediately jump to her defense. She didn't appreciate his meddling back then because she had been off in her own delusional bubble and while now she found his concern to be touching, Sakura doesn't want the blond to fight her battles.

_Not again._

"It was a harmless joke, Sasuke. If you weren't trained to stand basic human interaction then I'm sorry but I won't tone down mine just to accommodate your feelings." she meet his eyes with a fierce look in her own. "Nobody will. That's not how the world works."

Sakura knew she had been slightly ruthless but she couldn't help it. Perhaps tearing down his comfort, revenge-oriented zone every now and then would open his eyes because Kami knew she won't give up on him without a fight.

_We stick together. All of us. Never again will I burden Naruto with the promise of bringing you back, never again will Kakashi-sensei think of himself as a failure._

_And never again will I let you turn your back on Konoha._

"I won't train any of you with that kind of attitude. Take the day off to clear your head." Kakashi spoke-up, voice neutral. This wasn't the team he had passed. "Tomorrow I expect you to act like the mature students I thought you to be." Having said that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

All three of them, Sakura included, looked down at their feet in shame. This wasn't going as she hoped it would and while the majority of the blame was Sasuke's no doubt, she wasn't a saint either. She had wanted to push his buttons if only to prove that she could, to prove she was no longer that naive hopeless girl who cared little about the shinobi lifestyle.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"I'm not the brightest kid, Shodai knows but I'm clever enough to recognize disappointment when I see it. Even one as skilfully hidden as Kakashi-sensei's."

A hum of agreement escaped her. People didn't give him enough credit for emotional intelligence. "He failed each team he had been given prior ours. If he passed us, that means he saw something worth his time." Sakura rested her forehead onto the palm of her hand. "We proved him wrong today."

Sasuke didn't seem concerned though he was avoiding eye-contact. "He already accepted to be our teacher. By law, he has to train us."

Naruto cracked-up loudly. For a full minute, all he did was laugh and hold his stomach, attracting her confusion and their teammate's annoyance. When he finished, the blond wiped a tear away from his eye. "The man reads porn in public, arrives late to the point everyone in Konoha, Grandpa Hokage included, overlooks it, has worn a mask for so long that nobody knows what's underneath and graduated The Academy when he was five." he shook his head doubtfully. "I don't think the law applies to Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke's eyes widened, slightly intrigued. Five? It couldn't be possible. It had taken Itachi two years to become genin. To think there was someone with that kind of record alive and within reach...

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Naruto is right. Considering all he got away with throughout the years...Refusing to teach us should be easy." She couldn't hide her surprise. "Where did you learn that?"

The Uzumaki troublemaker scratched the back of his neck. "You told me it's important to know your friends and your enemies. I did some digging. Since I'm invisible to most people, it wasn't hard for me to listen into their conversations. Kakashi-sensei is subject to lots of gossip."

"Tch, that's your source?" Sasuke ridiculed him.

Naruto didn't take it personally. He made a face. "Kami, no. I don't trust gossip. Most of it is crap..." here he paused and winced. "Sorry Sakura-chan."

She didn't correct him but urged him to keep going instead. "It's fine, go on."

He stood a little straighter. "Like I said, most of it can't be trusted. One person says a thing, somebody else says another. What they all agreed on, was what I told you. The rest was a bunch of...disturbing things." Naruto closed his eyes, willing such thoughts to dissolve. Like the rumour about him having killed one of his teammates for example. Sure, Kakashi-sensei was weird but that didn't make him a bad person. In fact, he had never felt closer to the man than he did in that moment. People talk and judge without knowing the truth. He refused to do to others what others had done to him.

For the first time, the changes she was little by little trying to make were starting to affect the past. Naruto's new and subtle approach was one of many to come, she hoped. "You paid attention." It felt satisfying, to know she'd play a bigger role in his development this time around. A role which had nothing to do with medical ninjutsu, for a change.

His eyes softened. "Of course I did. Tried my best, anyway." He couldn't lie. Not everything managed to stick like glue but what did, he tried not to forget.

"Hn, then we can't afford to play around anymore. If Kakashi is serious, so must we." Sasuke said, oddly reasonable.

"I knew you had it in you teme!" Naruto exclaimed with his trademark grin.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, hiding a victorious smile. "So, now it's we."

He glared at them. "Don't push it."

* * *

Since they had the rest of the day off, she figured she might as well buy herself a pair of combat gloves for her tortured knuckles and a pair of boots. The standard blue sandals were heavily impractical. If she hoped to run laps beside Lee, she had to be better equipped than that. The streets were crowded, as they usually were in the afternoon. Compared to her past self, now she easily noticed the mentally and emotionally scarred people. Ninja must hide their feelings well and be able to pick up on the ones of others.

Sakura stopped in front of The Yamanaka flower shop and though she had no idea what compelled her to go inside, she did. Different smells of different flowers hit her nostrils, making her feel strangely at ease.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare all day Forehead? It's rude manners." Ino watched her with blue, calculated eyes before they narrowed upon taking a closer look. "You look awful. What happened?"

"I was lost in my thoughts. Don't take it personally Ino." she replied, dodging the second question.

The blonde flipped her hair. "I never do." she proudly stated, resting her chin into the palms of her hands. "Not that I particularly care but what's gotten you looking even worse than usual?" she pressed the issue. She was usually much subtler than this but all things considered, they were off ninja duty now.

Sakura hadn't gazed into a mirror since early morning. Judging by the state of her attire and considering what a day it had been, emotionally draining at best, she couldn't blame her childhood friend for asking. "Training, my team." _The burden of saving the future._ she thought but didn't say.

"I know what you mean. Shikamaru is lazy and refuses to do any training, unless it involves playing shogi. He already beat Asuma-sensei so, there isn't much that he can improve." Ino sighed. And if anyone pointed out how she had sounded more admirative than annoyed, she'd fiercely deny it. "Chouji tries but only after he eats my weight in chips and gets bribed with BBQ."

A small smile creased her face. It felt good, to catch-up with someone like her. She took a seat. "At least you don't fight all day. That's all we do."

Ino snorted in disbelief. "It makes you wonder what was The Hokage thinking when he arranged the teams. Though I'd take the boys any day over Kiba with his overbearance and Shino with his bugs." there was a pause. "Hold on, what do you mean 'fight'?"

Sakura related to that feeling. No matter how difficult it got or the things they went through, she couldn't have wished for a better team. As dysfunctional as they were, she wouldn't trade that for ordinary. The best shinobi never were. "Naruto and Sasuke have their rivalry while the latter can't handle the thought of relying on somebody else rather than himself." If she sounded bitter, she didn't notice.

Her childhood friend did, though.

"You really don't like Sasuke-kun anymore, do you?"

"I didn't say that." she argued.

Ino arched an elegant eyebrow. "You might as well have because that's how it looks like from the outside. You don't argue with a boy you like Sakura. Not until you get together, at least."

"Can I have these?" she gestured to some bright yellow flowers.

Her eye twitched. "I give you love advice yet you are more concerned about what I sell?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "This is a flower shop Ino."

The blonde threw her a dirty look before nodding along. "You can take them. Anything else?"

"Does your family grow poisonous plants?" The question was merely a formality since her future self had bought her stack from here.

Ino's eyes widened. "They do. Most shinobi in the village come here for them but this is the first time a genin requests that." she paused. "What are you thinking, Sakura?" she shook her head. "Never mind, don't tell me. We don't grow the poisonous ones here and since people order a few weeks prior, it will take some time until I can get my hands on them. Do you want something in particular?"

"Just Lily of The Valley Shrub. How long will I have to wait?"

Her lips formed a smirk. "Not long if I go straight to my dad. I will pass by your house when I have them."

The pink-haired girl gave her a brilliant smile. "I don't know how to thank you, Ino." she admitted sincerely. "For what is worth, I'm sorry again for ruining our friendship."

"I know. Don't go ruining my mascara too now." she warned her as she prepared the rest of the flowers, the non-poisonous ones. She gave her a perplexed glance. "What do you need those for?"

She shrugged. "Mom will like them."

Ino smiled. "You don't have to pay for those then. Tell your parents I said hello."

Realization dawned on her earlier that day and Sakura cursed her ignorance. She should have known better. Something that hope-inspiring, something so powerful such as time travel couldn't come without consequences.

She was starting to forget. Having sudden gaps in her memory was a frightening notion. It got her alarmed. How much will be erased? How important will the missing information prove itself to be? There were too many questions and hardly any answers. It was enough to drive the calmest of people mad. The only thing she had was an echo of a missing piece from the puzzle that was her mind. Something should have been there but it wasn't, not anymore. Common sense told Sakura to get a grip and analyse the situation. Freaking out wouldn't do her any good.

The brain, much like a muscle, was in constant development. Until one reached adulthood, the brain constantly changed and shifted and though its capacity to retain information was impressive, no twelve-year-old brain could handle the sudden flux of information brought by a seventeen-year-old.

The two had to merge at some point. In an attempt to make more room, erasing came as a natural process. What it got rid of and what it chose to keep were not up to Sakura, unfortunately. Granted how humans, shinobi most of all, were set on survival from an evolutionary point of view, she wouldn't put it past her twelve-year-old conscience not to erase memories directly tied to one trauma or another. The brain erases to protect itself but in this case, it'd do her situation more harm than good. She had to remember. Everything. Regardless of how unpleasant or disturbing.

Survival also meant skills, survival meant not forgetting what Tsunade-sama taught her. From that point of view, Sakura felt relieved. Compared to how general amnesia would have operated, time travel was a little more tactful. Her knowledge as medic-nin and warrior were safe. It was no small consolation but the prospect of losing something that could help her better stand as shield between her boys and harm's way was difficult to accept.

Sakura had made a vow and she intended to honour it. Even if that meant writing all that she knew inside scrolls. If she had relevant information written down, forgetting wouldn't matter. She'd read and remember. Again, and again. For how many times it was needed. She would have to ask Lee for help tomorrow. If there was anyone who had an arsenal of scrolls at her disposal, that was Tenten. She could always buy but she didn't want more than two capable scrolls. It'd be impractical to have many with less space inside. Where would she hide them all? That, and if Naruto taught her anything, that was the importance of bonds. Bonds meant strength, bonds were a bright light when you were at your weakest. If she hoped to change the future, Sakura knew she couldn't do it alone. She had to unite The Konoha 12 in more than just name.

* * *

Her morning run helped put things into perspective and helped her keep a clear head throughout the day. Lee, regardless of his eccentric tendencies and the occasional speech about the power of youth was actually a calming presence. Kami knew she needed that in her life, especially now as she and the boys were walking on egg shells with Kakashi-sensei. Not that she could blame him for taking measures. This time around, just how dysfunctional she, Naruto and Sasuke were, had been jarringly obvious.

To a lesser trained eye, what the jonin was displaying would have seemed nothing but disinterest. Sakura begged to differ. Kakashi was the prime example of somebody who understood the power of deception early on in life. He didn't infuriate people with his aloofness and laidback attitude just for the sake of it. In nature, less conspicuous animals had an easier time killing their prey. A tiger was a threat no matter how badly observant you were so, the chances of lowering your guard around one were slim to none. What of butterflies? What of snakes that hid themselves well enough that you never saw them coming? They'd catch you and kill you before you even realized there was any danger to begin with.

They could have learned a lot from him in the timeline she came from, Sakura reasoned, if only they had been more willing to pay attention. The best ninja never revealed the tricks they had up their sleeve. She stole a glance at Naruto, boldness and brightness put together and shook her head. _Though exceptions do exist._

"We continue what we started yesterday." he announced as they stood still, behaving for once. "Generally speaking, fire is strong against wind but weak against water. Wind is strong against lightning and lightning is strong against earth but water is weak against earth."

Naruto narrowed his eyebrows. "Following that logic, Sasuke and I have the same chances of defeating each other while Sakura-chan would win against teme since water beats fire any day."

"Yes and no. Under normal circumstances, that'd be correct. The rank of the jutsu you use can make a difference. A B-ranked fire jutsu would naturally overpower the C-ranked water one even if the law of elements states the opposite. If, however, both jutsu are of B level, nature will speak." Kakashi explained, waiting for more questions. It was important that they understood how ninjutsu worked now. Team 7, traditionally, had always been formed for combat.

"But what about wind and water? Or lightning and water?" Naruto asked, genuinely intrigued.

"That'd be counterproductive. A fight between you and Sakura based solely on ninjutsu wouldn't have an outcome while a fight between her and I would be dangerous at best and heavily damaging at worst."

The blond looked confused, eyebrows pinched together as he pondered why that was. Sasuke spoke up, slightly perplexed. Did nobody teach the dobe what would happen if water and electricity made contact? "Sakura and Kakashi would suffer equally. Water is a conductor for energy and lightning chakra is energy in its rawest form. They'd have major burns afterwards." He refrained from saying that higher level techniques of that sort also carried the possibility of death.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but feel proud. _Perhaps today won't end in disaster._ "It's true." she acknowledged. "Ideally, it'd make for a formidable combination. Most teams never reach that level though."

"We can be the greatest team ever and not risk dying by our own hand! I still have to become Hokage, Kakashi-sensei has to watch me succeed since I promised during The Bell Test and I never go back on my word." Team Seven's goofball argued passionately, a vehement tilt of his lips present. "Also, I'd make Sakura-chan's dream come true as well as help teme over here with that revenge of his. I don't get it, but I don't think I need to." He closed his eyes, wrapping his palms against the back of his neck, a lot more at ease than earlier.

If Kakashi eye-smiled affectionately, her eyes watered a bit and Sasuke's usual scowl became slightly less menacing, Naruto never noticed.

"I have one more question. If two jutsu users have the same element and can't use a second one, wouldn't a ninjutsu fight be pointless? I mean, they'd cancel each other out, right?"

Had she known Kakashi-sensei any less, she wouldn't have sworn that he was at his best when teaching his favourite ninja art. "There is a catch here too. If one jutsu is of more advanced rank, it will absorb the weaker one completely."

Naruto's eyes instantly brightened. There was mischief in them, the kind they held after his brain had cooked up yet another reckless idea. Sakura wasn't too thrilled by what that could mean. "The next wind user to cross my path will eat dust believe it!"

"Tch, you hardly know the first thing about chakra manipulation."

"Oh yeah, as if you know more."

Sasuke's expression said that he did, Naruto' spoke of barely repressed frustration while Sakura was glad they weren't at each other's throats yet. Suddenly, she got a bright plan of her own. It was at least half as cunning as Naruto's and judging by the aura the jonin was emanating, the time traveller figured she'd do them a favour if she was the one to deliver divine punishment and not him. Sakura chose the closest tree to where they were standing, focused, then climbed it with the chakra control she used to be so known for.

"Boys, I'm starting to believe you are getting left behind in terms of skills." Kakashi-sensei taunted them, on the outside seemingly bored. On the inside, however, he praised his pink-haired student. Ever since he witnessed the force of her chakra infused punch, he suspected tree climbing and water walking would be easiest for Sakura.

When she climbed down to meet a frozen Naruto and a visibly stunned Sasuke, she shook her head. "Chakra control requires finesse and patience. Things you two don't have right now..."

Before she could have finished her sentence, the two ran ahead and did the predictable thing. They tried climbing only to fail. Naruto fell in a heap at the bottom of the tree while Sasuke's fall, albeit a lot more graceful, was still a fall whichever way you chose to look at it, thus damaging to his pride.

The Uzumaki troublemaker laughed. "Gah, you made it look so easy Sakura-chan." He exclaimed, feeling dizzy from standing upside down. He got back on his feet relatively quickly though.

The Last Uchiha untangled a leaf from his hair, indignant as he stood up from the ground. "What did we do wrong Kakashi?"

The man hummed noncommittally. "I fear Sakura-chan here has even better chakra control than I do, Sasuke. Perhaps if you ask more nicely, she'd agree to tell you..." he trailed off, bemused, eyes glued to his infamous book. "Either way, I'm not teaching you anything more advanced until you master tree climbing." _and learn to be less of an arrogant prick._ He thought, wondering whether history was bound to repeat itself. Kakashi had been Sasuke once, personality wise Naruto was a carbon copy of Obito, while Sakura wasTeam Seven's glue that kept it all together, much like Rin had been.

Several failed attempts later made it clear for Naruto that he wouldn't get far unless he tried a different approach. "Ne, ne Sakura-chan, how come you didn't teach me this when you tutored me?"

"You weren't ready back then." she retorted.

"Okay, fair enough but I'm ready now so, could you please..." he elbowed Sasuke in the ribs. While no audible sound echoed, it was clear it hurt, if the glare he directed towards the blond was any indication. "Teme, don't be a stubborn jerk. Just admit we are hopeless." he paused. "Well, you are. I know how to ask nicely at least."

Said boy looked like he was seriously starting to consider strangling his teammate. The pinkette rubbed her temples and sought out Kakashi's authoritative figure only to discover that he was nowhere in sight. He left her to handle it. God, this isn't what she had in mind when she had wanted him to recognize her worth.


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura couldn't remember the last time she slept properly. Both the medic and the soldier in her were at war. One stressed the importance of resting, the other insisted saving the future should come first. Against her better judgement, the latter won. Pulling all-nighters could go either way. If her hard work paid off, she was a genius. If it didn't and caused her more harm than good...

She shook her head stubbornly. _This isn't about me._ She had the past entirely dedicated to her. But no longer. Enough was enough. _This is about Konoha._

The scrolls scattered across her carpet were now two of her most valuable possessions. Slender fingers touched the paper, grazing the letters. A lifetime worth of memories, all written down. One was hers to keep and pull out whenever the situation called for it. The second one was a safety measure. Granted how many dangers she'd be subjected to from now on, the number of risks she'd be taking, Sakura had deemed it necessary to make a copy of the original. Because if she dropped dead one day, all would have been in vain. She needed someone to continue what she started. It wasn't pleasant to think of but few things were in her line of work. The pink-haired girl sighed and rolled the scrolls. One of them would be staying inside her kunai pouch. The other she would give away.

After weeks of unnecessary D-rank missions, Naruto had declared Team 7 ready for greater hardships. Blunt as ever but certainly more level-headed than his past counterpart. His refusal to accept anything 'less than cool' however, had been like a wake-up call to Sakura. That was what she couldn't remember. The Mission to Wave Country was a blur, a series of incoherent flashes that made little to no sense. She could do nothing but go with the flow. Having packed her belongings for tomorrow's trip, there was only one thing that needed to be taken care of now.

Konoha's paved streets were crowded, as per usual. She was no chakra-sensor but something felt amiss. It wouldn't be the first time she got the sensation of being followed. It could be PSTD at fault or something else entirely. Either way, Sakura didn't let herself get side-tracked and kept walking at a normal pace. If someone was indeed on her tail, it'd be wise not to show she had figured it out.

The moment Shikamaru opened his front door and saw her, he suggested they sit on the porch and play some shogi. Sakura had politely declined and insisted they go inside the house but she did it by using Konoha' Secret Code. The Nara heir yawned and mumbled something about how his mother made some dango. Once they were behind the safety of the clan's walls, he remarked dryly:

"Genin aren't supposed to know the code."

Sakura gave him a pointed look.

He rose his hands up in mock surrender. "Fine, what's fair is fair. If I could get my dad to teach me, so could you." his eyes narrowed. "What is it Sakura?" The 'in what troublesome mess have you gotten yourself into?' remained unspoken.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know why someone would follow me, alright? I'm not sure there even is someone but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Shikamaru reluctantly nodded then pulled out two chairs for them to sit. With that, he agreed. "Speak your mind."

Sakura tentatively pulled out the scroll and handed it over. "I'm leaving Konoha tomorrow and since you know better than anyone how unpredictable life is, I need to make sure this is well cared for, should something..."

"I suppose the mission it's a C-rank." he cut her off knowingly as he studied the tiny scroll. "You ought to stop worrying so much then. Kakashi-sensei is a skilled jonin, Sasuke is rookie of the year and Naruto...well the baka is too troublesome to go down easily." he paused before he added. "You are no pushover either." he pushed the scroll away.

Sakura's eyes softened. "Thank you but this is the first mission of many to come. I want you to keep it but don't open it. Unless I die." she pushed the scroll back in his hands. The time traveller could already see the wheels in Shikamaru's head spinning but instead of asking why him, why not somebody else, he replied:

"Let's be hypothetical for a second. Say you die and I open the scroll. What if I die afterwards?" he demanded. "Or what if I die before you do?"

Sakura opened her mouth then closed it. She hadn't thought of that. Leave it to Shikamaru to see holes and flaws inside her plan. She considered what he said. "There are two identical scrolls. The twin is inside my kunai pouch. After I die, it's important that you get your hands on it and pass it on to someone else, someone you trust. If you die before me, I will take the scroll from you and do the same."

Shikamaru was silent for a few moments. "We better seal them. That way, if the wrong person gets his hands on them, they'd be useless. I know only basic seals that any genin with half a brain would break." he leaned his chin into the palm of his hand. "We can, however, design personal seals, add a little trick."

Sakura knew then she had come to the right person. "Like a riddle?"

He chuckled. "Or a puzzle. Any clever game will do as long as it contains stuff only the closest to us know of."

She hummed in agreement. "That way, even if they have the mental capacity to solve it, they'd still lack the most important piece."

"Exactly." Shikamaru paused. He rested his chin on his hand. "This is gonna be such a drag." he groaned.

"And yet you still agree to help me." she stated in disbelief.

"Refusing would go against everything Iruka-sensei has struggled to teach us."

Sakura didn't have anything to say to that.

* * *

Lee was confused as to why she sought him out at night. They usually trained at dawn. Nothing got the blood in her veins running better than a taijutsu spar with a worthy opponent however and he was more than happy to oblige.

"For how long will you be staying there?" he asked as he ducked out of the way. Sakura had more raw strength but Lee was faster. Her chakra infused punches were something to avoid. He learned that the hard way when they first sparred together. Lee never held back again.

"Until the bridge gets build. Two weeks at most, I think." She still had a long way to go in terms of speed but she trusted herself and she trusted Lee. His fierce determination to be better than yesterday proved to be inspirational. "How was your first C-rank mission?"

He would have swiped a foot under her if Sakura hadn't foreseen it and aimed for his head. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "It was easy but that's only because we didn't encounter any complications. We weren't much of a team...at the beginning." he confessed. "Neji didn't see me as a rival and though he tolerated Tenten, he didn't trust her any more than he trusted me. That changed after we had our second C-ranked mission. It shifted into a B-rank and because no one, not even Guy-sensei knew of The Byakugan's blind spot, both Neji and our client could have lost their lives that day."

Somewhere in the middle of Lee' story, he had completely stopped fighting and Sakura had wordlessly agreed with his decision. It was obvious this meant a lot to him. "What happened next?" she inquired gently.

Lee made himself busy by replacing the bandages wrapped around his arms. They had that in common. Whenever something was eating at her, Sakura couldn't stand still either. "We pulled through in the end and Neji agreed to tell, but only to one of us. Ever since, Tenten has his back during battle and I have hers." He looked up at her when he finished. "Trust between teammates shouldn't be postponed until a life-threatening situation occurs. I sincerely hope you won't get to experience what we did, Sakura-san."

 _We already have, Lee_. She thought but didn't say. It happened a lifetime ago and yet she could still vividly recall Naruto getting tossed around like a rag doll and Sasuke shaking with fear. Orochimaru had been both the beginning and the end of their bond. Her fingers reached out, touching the ends of her short pink hair. Sakura never forgot how desperation feels like. _You are weak, pitifully so. Useless little girl. Do something. Fight. Get up. Keep going but whatever you do, don't let the Sound Team get to them._

Lee, an outsider, their foe, had fought for Team 7, for her that day. He did it regardless of what they were and of where his loyalties lay. Sakura didn't doubt that he'd do it again. This time he won't have to. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."

He gave her a confused look, his ridiculous bushy eyebrows arched. "What for?"

She shrugged. "Being you." She had a feeling he wasn't told that enough. Lee nearly blinded her with his smile but Sakura only laughed...and excused herself the moment his speeches about the power of youth reached a certain degree of intensity.

The nagging feeling at the back of her neck that she was being watched didn't go away.

* * *

Team 7's journey to the Land of Waves was almost uneventful.

Almost.

Whenever her teammates were concerned, trouble followed. It was a given. The fight against Zabuza of the Hidden Mist caused adrenaline to rush through her veins and Sakura realized that she had missed it. The thrill only the probability of death could bring, the action, all of it.

It took every ounce of self-control she had to stop herself several times, however. She had to remember that a twelve-year-old shouldn't know or do certain things. Despite her best efforts, the way Kakashi observed her sometimes was a statement to how keen his eyes were and just how hard it was to conceal parts of herself that shouldn't yet exist.

After defeating Zabuza, a hunter-nin perched atop a tree branch shot multiple senbon and took down the latter. Sakura grabbed her forehead when a flashback hit her. She shook her head when the Copy Cat ninja said that the foe died.

"Thank you very much." the stranger bowed his head. "I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."

_Something isn't right._

The pink-haired girl left the boys' side and approached the body. Instead of checking the pulse, something that could be influenced with the right knowledge, Sakura observed the spots where the needles pierced Zabuza' skin. No vital organs were hit. Logistics made it clear that at least one of them should have been deadly...unless the aim was to fake death, and not cause it.

 _Play dumb_.

"I suppose using one more senbon, just to be sure..." she trailed off as she pulled out one from her kunai pouch.

The hunter-nin's reaction was immediate. He threw a senbon with enough accuracy that it knocked down the one she had been holding.

"Impressive. I look forward to our battle." he commented before he picked up Zabuza and disappeared.

"Oi, get back here you freak! We kicked _his_ butt. Don't think we can't kick yours too." Naruto screamed at thin air, fuming. He whirled around to face Sasuke. "Back me up teme."

The Uchiha heir inclined his head towards their sensei. "Kakashi is tired and if what we saw now is any indication, that boy might be even more skilled than Zabuza."

Sakura nodded, although letting the enemy get away was something she also despised. "Sasuke is right. We must rest first. Our priority is to keep Tazuna-san safe, not endanger him further."

Naruto got that but just because he understood where they were coming from, that didn't mean he liked it. "Fine." he squeezed the water out of his black t-shirt before his concerned gaze fell onto Kakashi. "Are you alright, sensei?"

He waved a hand in a dismissive manner while the other was already glued to his infamous book. "Hai, hai. It's nice to see you worry about your old-sensei but I fought in The Third Shinobi War. During such times, nobody asked me whether I was tired or..."

"We are not at war now." Sasuke felt the need to point out.

Sakura willed her hands to glow green only for them to do so, then flicker and turn back to normal after a few seconds. She bit the inside of her cheek, frustrated. If only I had the chakra of my seventeen-year-old self. The one she had now was pitifully small and the fight took and used it almost entirely. A tiny part remained but she promised herself not to tap into it. The Byakugou seal needed time. "I'm sorry."

Naruto came from behind and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Once upon a time, him intruding upon her personal space would have resulted in a smack. Now Sakura merely accepted the gesture for what it was, an attempt to comfort her. "Don't sweat it. My injures have already started to heal, Sasuke has barely gotten a scratch and no force in the Elemental Nations is powerful enough to make Kakashi-sensei drop his porn."

The last remark caused a laugh to erupt from the back of her throat and Sasuke to swallow what sounded like the beginning of a chuckle. "Tch, dobe."

Naruto got a smack upside the head, but it wasn't from her.

"In a few years, you will learn to appreciate my choice of reading material." Kakashi commented in a neutral tone but his visible eye crinkled in amusement all the same.

Tazuna, for his part, was just plain confused. "It took danger to make your team play nice? All the brats did on the road was cause me a headache with their arguing."

Let it not be said that Hatake Kakashi didn't defend his students. "If it weren't for those brats, as you put it, I wouldn't have escaped Zabuza's water prison and you might have not been alive to witness how precious my students look when they do get along."

Naruto instantly brightened. "You tell him Kakashi-sensei." he exclaimed.

Sasuke not so subtly elbowed the blond in the ribs. Yet it was clear he didn't take praise lightly either. Afterwards his gaze shifted onto Sakura, who looked to be deep in thought.

"You saw through the hunter-nin's trick." he stated.

Torn apart from her musings, Sakura narrowed her eyebrows at him. "I did. What's your point?"

"Kakashi didn't."

"He pretended not to. Isn't that right, sensei?" she asked.

Their sensei gazed from Tazuna to them. "That's right, Sakura. Everyone who requests to join the ANBU Black Ops must have a better than average knowledge of the human body." he paused. "Though it speaks volumes that you figured it out."

Years later and being under her sensei' scrutinizing gaze still made her feel uncomfortable. "During the bell test, I used senbon. It's better to learn exactly which parts should be targeted than to fire blindly."

The kunoichi knew the jonin would believe her as his mind was too logic-oriented not to. Would he stop being suspicious? She doubted it. He wouldn't be Kakashi-sensei if he did. He patted her head. "My favourite student."

Naruto's ears perked up at that. "Eh?"

Sasuke's did, too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura stuck out her tongue at them.

The Uchiha scoffed. "That's a very mature reaction from your favourite student."

"Actually, if Kakashi-sensei's books are to be..."

"Naruto!" the female member of Team 7 scolded him.

Said boy rose his hands in a placate gesture. "What?"

Sasuke mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously familiar to "hopeless."

Naruto glared. "Teme."

"Usuratonkachi."

"Jerk."

"Dead last."

Sakura put her head in her hands. "How do you still have the energy?" she moaned in disbelief.

Tazuna took off his hat and used it as a fan. "That's what I'm wondering too girlie."

One of her eyes twitched. "Excuse you?"

Kakashi chose that moment to step in. "Alright team, we get going."

When nobody moved or stopped, he snapped his book shut and added in a dangerously calm tone. "Now."

Nevertheless to say, they all listened and did as told.

* * *

The Land of Waves was significantly less populated than Konoha. According to Tazuna, many people left in search for a better life since Gato, a tyrant, took the reins and every business or trade happened only with his approval. Sakura visibly saddened every time she walked the streets and observed the villagers.

"Kakashi-sensei, isn't there anything we can do for them?" she asked.

The son of The White Fang didn't sugar-coat the truth.

"I'm afraid not, Sakura. We are shinobi. Economy isn't our area of expertise."

Much to their surprise, Sasuke spoke-up. "Once the bridge gets finished, the economy should thrive again."

Naruto jumped in, optimistic as ever. "If we protect Tazuna, he builds the bridge and if the bridge is complete, then everything gets back to normal." he paused, grinning. "We are already helping, Sakura-chan."

"That's what I said, dobe."

"Two reassurances are better than one, teme."

Two days of rest was all it took for Team 7 to get back on their feet, stronger and even more determined to see their first A-rank through. Kakashi stressed the importance of training whenever they could so, they went in the woods behind Tazuna's house.

Since the pink-haired girl already had water walking mastered down to an art, she focused on developing her healing. She had to be restless if she wanted to achieve in a few months what last time had occurred in three years. Naruto and Sasuke caught fish for her to practice on since they spent most of their time under the stream than on top of it. Their unwillingness to give-up was something their past counterparts had possessed as well. The difference was how they went about it. Maturely. Something that couldn't have been used to describe either genin back then. Not when it came to compete with one another, no.

"Granted how often you fell under, I wouldn't be surprised if the fish dedicate a fan club to you." Naruto held his stomach as he laughed.

Soon after he said that, his chakra flow wavered and he followed in his teammate's footsteps.

Sasuke smirked, smug. "You were saying?"

 _I take back what I said about these two ever being something other than childish._ Her eyes softened. This was really happening. She had a second chance to save the future, to shield them. Sakura didn't know if this made her believe in Kami but it definitely made her believe in something.

Glancing away from the two, she focused her attention on the jonin whose back was leaned against a tree. The posture he had hinted at total disinterest. She knew better than to label that aloof act of his as anything but an act though. He supervised their progress and looked out for danger at the same time.

"If you have something on your mind Sakura, speak freely."

Situations like these made her wonder whether Kakashi-sensei could read minds.

"Ano...during the fight with Zabuza, you used the Sharingan. I imagine it takes up a lot of chakra. That day I was too tired to do it but now I'm not so..." she briefly hesitated. "Can I check your eye?"

His future version trusted no one but her and Tsunade-sama and even then, it was only under threat of burning his books. She never got to find out what was the deal with her sensei and hospitals or medic-nin in general. Sakura wondered if she ever will.

"Go ahead."

_Great, now I have to build up a good argum—wait, what?_

She blinked, dumb-smacked.

"Eh? Are you sure, Kakashi-sensei? I mean, the eyes are one of the most sensible parts of the human body and a check-up can be uncomfortable..."

By the time she realized she was ranting, the jonin had already grasped his hitai-ate to reveal Obito's eye.

"Yes, I'm sure." he said before he casually added. "Unless you happen to be a spy who plans to stab and steal the Sharingan in which case we are going to have a long discussion about morals and ethics at Ibiki Morino's workplace." Kakashi paused then kept going as if he was talking about the weather. "You do know who Ibiki Morino is, don't you, Sakura?"

How could she not? All ninja who valued their sanity knew of the man and had heard the stories. The fact that her first round of the Chunin Exams entailed passing his test spoke of just how badly messed-up the organization team was. At the top of the pyramid stood no one else but the Hokage, of course.

 _It's water under the bridge now._ She thought and felt herself starting to sweat.

"I do." she answered simply and hoped that would be the end of it.

Whether Kakashi had deemed her innocent or he merely wished to prolong her agony, it didn't matter. At some point she'd let something slip; something that couldn't be taken back or be explained.

"You may proceed then." he eye-smiled at her and for now, that was enough to calm Sakura.

Partially.

 _ **Lambs are treated nicely before being butchered too, Outer**_. Her hands glowed green. _Shut-up, Inner. I need to focus._

_**Fine, do your job. Meanwhile I will think of which kind of wood should we choose for our coffin. In case there will be something left to bury after Kakashi is done with us, anyway.** _

_Inner_. Sakura lamented.

When there was no response, she took the silence as her cue to examine the Sharingan. She could only practice on fish for so long. Unlike the Uchiha who could activate and deactivate their doujutsu at will, the Copy Cat had no such luxury. In all seriousness, the eye should have killed him long ago.

During her studies with Tsunade, she remembers asking how come Kakashi was still alive. Her mentor had lowered her sake and said. "Let's find out." then she left the room and returned a few minutes later with two medical files. "Before I left Konoha, there was an incident. Two of our shinobi were captured by Kumo-nin. One liked to think of himself as a scientist. The question was: Could a kekkei genkai get used to someone who didn't carry the gene? They didn't want to risk murdering one of their own so, they took the eyes from the Uchiha and switched them with the ones of his teammate. Both their corpses were dropped outside the village's gate a week later. The experiment was a failure but that didn't stop the Hidden Cloud from hoping that one day, at least one attempt will be successful. People are structured differently. What someone's body can't take, might easily find acceptance in another's."

"What's the second file about?"

"This is Hatake's. I want you to read both and come up with an answer."

Sakura could still vividly recall her reluctance to read. A medical file was personal, it contained all sorts of information. She didn't even know how her sensei looked underneath his mask.

"I can't, shisho."

Tsunade understood what was going through her head and told her something she'd never forget. "There is no room for shame in our area of expertise, Sakura. None. Knowing all you can about your patient is crucial and I cannot stress that enough. Think of it this way, you might go on a mission together. Something happens. You give a diagnostic and have already thought of a solution but what happens if your solution would do more harm than good because of something that was written in a file that you couldn't bring yourself to read? All medic-nin are advised to read the ones of their teammates before a mission or a surgery. Kakashi's and Naruto's won't be the only ones you will have to read at some point. Ino's, Shikamaru's, Neij's or even mine might be brought forward one day. Make the choice to save our life rather than our pride."

The pink-haired girl blinked back the past, a small smile on her face and focused on the present. She retracted her hands. "All good." she told him cheerfully.

Perhaps a little too cheerfully.

"Thank you, Sakura." the jonin replied as he covered his eye once more.

Naruto's loud exclamation echoed next. "Look over here! I did it!" He was walking in circles on top of the stream. His happiness at having succeeded was contagious.

"After a hundred attempts." Sasuke added dryly and did a backflip, then landed on top of the water with little to no difficulty. He had a serene air about him. It was a stark difference to how he usually seemed.

The Uzumaki troublemaker scowled. "Show-off." he mumbled before he created a clone to stand beside him. He went back to feeling victorious soon after.

"That's all for today." Kakashi announced after having seen their demonstrations. "You did well, Naruto, Sasuke. Come now, Tsunami-san and Tazuna are expecting us to go dine with them."

Conversation filled her ears back inside the house. The boys stuffed themselves with food while the adults talked about the bridge and what they did for training that day.

Sakura couldn't find it in herself to join and she didn't feel like eating either. Her strange behaviour didn't go unnoticed by the only woman present.

"If you don't like the food dear, I can always cook something else."

She inwardly cringed and cursed herself for seeming a snob. These people were poor and yet... She shook her head negatively.

"I apologize, Tsunami-san." she bowed her head. "I like the food, I just don't have much of an appetite right now." Sakura looked up. "May I be excused, sensei?"

Upon receiving Kakashi's approval, she rose from the table. Right before she left the living room, she heard Inari say:

"She acts as if someone close to her died."

"Inari!" Tsunami reprimanded him.

"It's true." the little boy argued. He faced Naruto and Sasuke. "Who died?"

The two looked at each other. Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "What do you mean kid? Nobody died. Girls act like that sometimes. You will see what I mean when you get older."

Tazuna changed the subject by telling stories of his youth which Sasuke listened out of sheer politeness. He couldn't care less about what was being told. After he finished eating and thanked Tsunami, he left the room, dragging the dobe with him.

"What's your problem teme?" Naruto glared as he wrung his arm free off his grasp.

"I don't have one but it's clear that Sakura does."

"Say that's true. Since when do you care?"

"Hn, you saw the look Kakashi gave us on our way out."

"Hai, hai. The 'ninja who break the rules are scum but the ones who abandon their comrades are lower than scum' look. I swear I will end up tattooing the damn thing." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "You want me to go and talk to her." he didn't phrase it as a question.

The Uchiha heir rose an eyebrow, sceptical. "Two months ago, you would have fought me for the chance to."

He frowned. "Give me some credit teme, I'm not the same snotty brat I used to be." Naruto declared.

Sasuke smirked. "That's debateable."

Naruto clenched his fists but didn't lift them. "You know what, jerk? Two months ago, you would have been on the floor, begging me for mercy."

His arch nemesis scoffed. "I would sooner read Kakashi's books."

"Don't let him hear you say that." the Uzumaki grinned, mischievous.

Sasuke had great glaring skills though he'd never admit it. "Tell him and you will be the one begging for mercy."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Empty threats but fine. I won't say anything." he paused. "You go and talk to Sakura-chan though."

"Why?" he echoed.

The blond facepalmed. "Sometimes I wonder whether you are dumb or just stupid."

"Dumb and stupid are synonyms, dobe."

Naruto kept talking, not minding what he said. "Look, Sasuke. I hated your guts. I still do but if we want our team to become the strongest of the strong...well, I'm willing to let you get close to Sakura-chan, as a teammate."

He snorted. "At this point, she likes you more than she likes me."

Naruto shook his head absently. This wasn't the time to reflect on feelings that would most probably never get returned. Sakura-chan needed her teammates. Anything above that term didn't matter now. "Yeah, maybe, but she needs both of us. Both, not just one."

"Then, _we_ talk to her, not just I." Sasuke decided.


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura missed Tsunade.

She thought it'd be easy not to. If she were to be honest with herself, most days the last Senju hardly crossed her mind because she was back in the past, she was twelve again and the present was relatively calm and bright and dream-like enough that it had her drunk-on happiness more often than not. Naruto had yet to know that not everything could be fixed with a smile and a promise, no matter how sincere and well-intended. Sasuke had plenty of demons surrounding him but they were quiet. He had yet to embrace darkness, chase power and push them away.

And he won't do it again if Sakura had anything to say about it.

Kakashi-sensei saw ghosts whenever he glanced their way. Every loud proclamation of Naruto's, every dignified scoff of Sasuke's, every gentle smile of hers did nothing but remind him of himself and his former team. But the comparison was more sweet than bitter. After all, there was hope that they won't join his regrets.

Team 7 occupied most of Sakura's thoughts but Tsunade's fierce eyes, strong will and even stronger chakra-infused fists would pop up from time to time. It took everything she had not to burst crying whenever that happened. She'd repair some damaged tissue, heal a bruise, notice a bottle of sake, cause the ground or target to split and break or simply have years of motherly advice and sensible lessons echo faintly in the back of her mind in a voice that sounded too much like her mentor's for it to be okay.

That's it. That was all it took for Sakura to shrink back into her twelve-year-old shoes. Almost if she never outgrew them in the first place.

Her shishou wasn't dead. She knew that but her traumatized self was having a hard time separating 'gone' from 'dead'. When you get used to seeing and talking to someone every single day only to stop, no rational argument can convince your heart otherwise. Tsunade didn't know her, not anymore. The legendary Sannin would regard her coldly, like a stranger and not at all like her most prized pupil.

And Sakura was sure, so very sure, that she would hardly recognize her sensei in the coward and arrogant gambler that she had been seemingly a lifetime ago, prior to Naruto's meddling.

If she somehow succeeded in stopping Orochimaru from attacking the village, the Sandaime would live and... Tsunade might be lost to Konoha forever.

Sakura held back a sob and punched a tree in her anger. "Kuso." she cursed under her breath.

 _Is this what I am now?_ she wondered bitterly. _The judge, jury, and executioner, all at the same time?_ She drew her hand back only to deliver a much harder blow. _Heartless enough to let a comrade die if that means I get to keep another one, much more important to me?_ The tree bark shattered, courtesy of more punches. _How can I claim to be any better than the criminals I had vowed to protect my team against?_

Sakura let out a deafening scream, trusting the night sky and the heavy distance between her stationary point in the forest and Tazuna's house not to reveal her inner turmoil. She didn't notice her bleeding knuckles, nor did she register the pain. Her gloves were back at the house, having forgotten them in her haste _to get away._

The pink-haired girl clenched her hand and made it a fist, ready to strike again an invisible opponent that only she could see. She imagined Orochimaru' snake-like eyes and sinister smirk, she saw Kabuto's glasses and the arrogance that his posture always radiated. Instead of another tree in a sea of trees, Sakura's only thought was Sasori of the Red Sand and how closely the branches seemed to resemble his many puppets.

Thinking of Sasori made her recall a face worn down by time, wars, and loss but whose small, knowing smile and stubborn attitude swore that age was just a number and a shinobi was still a shinobi even when old and gray and how sacrificing your life was worth it if you knew that you had nothing more to lose but the world around you did and _wasn't Gaara too young to die anyways?_

Chiyo-baa-sama hadn't only pulled her own weight that day but also supported Sakura's. Her end had been self-catered, noble and worthy of admiration because really, how many ninjas got to decide how they die? Didn't most of them settle for what fate had in store?

Sakura would have pummeled the Sasori tree had Naruto not sneaked up behind her. He had his arms wrapped around her torso but that wasn't the most shocking thing. The knucklehead Uzumaki had an itch when it came to letting people suffer alone. Sasuke backing him up, however, was surreal. Even as he stood in front of her, his larger hand covering and holding back her fist, Sakura still found it hard to believe.

The woods were suddenly silent.

Until they weren't but it was Sakura who spoke first. The boys were behaving as if she were an explosive tag, ready to go off if they did so much as shift.

"Let go." she gritted her teeth and trashed against their hold.

Their only response was to tighten their grip on her, strong enough for her to feel uncomfortable but not harsh enough to bruise. Sakura equally loved and hated how they knew that she wouldn't, _couldn't_ harm them.

Not in a life-threatening sort of way, at least.

"Since when it's a crime to train?" she switched tactics.

The last Uchiha stared her in the eye, unfazed. "That wasn't training." he argued.

Witnessing Sakura, arguably what should have been the most sensitive and least emotionally scarred member of their Team, snap and leave such destruction in her wake had Sasuke wondering how much of her daily-self was the real Sakura. He wondered how much he knew her, how much all of them really knew her.

Looking at her now, green eyes sparkling with grief and so much anger, wild in her gaze and mannerisms, fingernails full of dirt and grime, damaged knuckles and bloody fingertips, bubblegum pink hair tangled up in knots, he concluded that they never did. That there was so much more to Sakura than what she had allowed them to see and that Kakashi wasn't the only one to wear masks.

They all did. Even Naruto, the moron that he was. And it took Sakura breaking for him to realize that maybe, he fit in with Team Seven better than he thought he would and that for all his perceived genius, he knew close to nothing about people.

Sasuke internally winced. He had nearly forgotten just how dangerous his teammate's fists could be. Not that he planned on loosening his grip any time soon, though. Out of pride, mostly and something else that he'd be quick to blame Kakashi and his annoying lectures on teamwork for.

Naruto had wanted to jump in and stop their female comrade much sooner, long before she subjected herself and the forest to any considerable damage but teme had convinced him to wait.

Wait for what exactly, Sasuke didn't say but when it became clear that Sakura-chan was not, by any means, blowing off steam but punishing herself instead, he threw caution to the wind.

He figured taking a punch or several for Sakura was nothing when compared to what she had done for him. For them. So, Naruto had truly believed that he'd get at least a broken nose. Suffice to say, it eluded him, just how easily it was to invade her personal bubble. _She must have been so focused that she didn't sense either of us._ He thought, forehead creased into a troubled frown.

Wave Country, if you asked Naruto, held no edge over Konoha when it came to dangerous people. Home was home though and foreign territory was still foreign territory, no matter how pitiful it seemed at first glance. That scum Zabuza and the hunter-nin could have taken the coward's way, spy on them when Kakashi-sensei was not present and catch Sakura-chan too far gone in her rage to notice two chakra signatures other than her own.

The thought of losing her, or any of his teammates really, yes, even Sasuke the asshole that he was, filled him with dread and a sense of overprotectiveness that Naruto had yet to understand the magnitude of.

"Are you angry with us?" he settled for asking.

Sakura found that she wasn't. If anything, she was angry with herself. They did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite, in fact. The two had cast aside their differences and worked together.

Just like Kakashi-sensei taught them.

"I'm not." she replied and hated herself for sounding tired, defeated by her own temper, the shadows of their enemies and an uncertain future. Most of all though? Sakura hated herself for letting them see her like this. She was supposed to be the marble pillar they held on for support, not the glass window they guarded in fear that it'd shatter.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look then let go of her. They were still in her personal space but no longer caging her in. She didn't know how she felt about them joining forces for her sake. She feared they'd never look at her the same way.

"Sakura-chan..." the blond briefly hesitated. "You know that I am are here for you, right? Sure, I'm impulsive and brash and could use some of the sensible logic that you and teme seem to have in waves..."

"Spades, dobe. Seem to have in _spades."_

Naruto threw the dark-haired avenger a dirty look. "That's not important right now."

Sasuke let out a soft 'che' sound before his eyes narrowed. She didn't realize what he was looking at until her gaze followed his and it fell on her gloveless, injured hands.

She'd heal them later.

"I know, Naruto." she intoned, hoping the soft smile she gave him reached her eyes. "I know and I thank you for it." she faced Sasuke who was now busy inspecting the beat-up trees. "Both of you." she added. Let it not be said that his contribution went unappreciated. He acknowledged her words with a solemn nod.

Sakura hadn't expected him to say anything.

"I second what dobe said."

Her eyes watered a bit and Sakura looked away to gather her composure. The black, once upon a time endless hole that had stretched wide and far between them seemed to have gained a bridge.

She would see that bridge protected at all costs.

"Naruto, did I hurt you?" she had to ask.

The Uzumaki shook his head negatively. Leave it to Sakura-chan to fret over their well-being when she should be focused on her own. "I'm good." he gave her a thumbs-up. "We should go before Kakashi-sensei decides he has had enough porn for one evening and comes looking for us."

Basked in the light of the full moon, she saw him as the man he had grown-up to become and less as the boy he very much was.

Sasuke reached out and held Naruto by the collar of his jumpsuit. "Do you remember what happened last time Kakashi saw Sakura looking worse for wear?"

The one in question shuddered. "You have a point there." he agreed.

Sakura was plain confused and had no idea what the boys were talking about. As far as she could remember, they only got a painless scolding and a lecture. "I don't follow."

"Kakashi made us catch that stupid cat." Sasuke said, a scowl marring his features.

"Over and over again." Naruto complained. "The weekend that followed, Sakura-chan? You had it free but teme and I?" he continued, wailing dramatically. "WE WERE TORTURED DATTEBAYO."

The time traveler deadpanned.

_And there goes the mature Naruto._

Knowing Sasuke and his strong dislike for the blond's theatrics, Sakura was baffled to see the Uchiha agreeing.

"He'd ensure Tora escaped more often."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Humans are wired to adapt if they are subjected to something several times. Didn't you?"

The jinchuuriki begged to disagree. "This is Kakashi-sensei we are talking about, Sakura-chan."

"He cheated." Sasuke flatly explained. "There were traps waiting for us at every turn and..."

Naruto finished the sentence for him. "He had that crazy snake lady bombard us. We were lucky to make it out alive. I'm telling you."

"Idiot. Anko-san isn't the devil incarnated."

"She might as well be if she has you using honorifics."

Sasuke pointedly ignored the statement and focused on Sakura. "Can you heal yourself?"

The pink-haired girl thought about it. She did use a pretty significant amount of chakra during the day as well as earlier. _But,_ she supposed, _I must push myself if I hope to achieve my full potential._

She willed her hands to glow green and saw the damage repaired. Before he could protest, Sakura seized her teammate's wrist and healed the aftermath of him stopping her fist. Sasuke flexed his fingers and mumbled a 'thanks'. Sakura recalled how he stopped Naruto. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked them.

"No."

"Yes."

_**At least one of them is honest** _ _. Inner sarcastically mumbled._

"Naruto, don't lie." she reprimanded him.

"I wasn't lying, Sakura-chan. You are the prettiest girl I know and..."

Sasuke snorted. "She wasn't referring to overall appearance, moron. Generally speaking, Sakura looks fine." he grunted. "How she does from Kakashi's point of view...that's the problem."

Naruto seemed to get it. He had this 'I know what we must do' proud air about him. "Teme, you handle Sakura-chan's hair while I take care of her nails."

_Wait a second..._

Sakura opened her mouth but the boys left no room for arguing. They were frightening in their persistence. _Kakashi-sensei really did a number one them._ "Ano, guys..."

Her protests fell on deaf ears. They lead the way to a nearby lake and while Naruto took her hands and lowered them underwater, Sasuke tackled his mission with the same seriousness he showed everything else. Nevertheless to say, she was starting to believe this was a genjutsu.

Or a dream.

Before she knew it, her fingernails were clean off blood and dirt while her hair no longer resembled a bird's nest.

Sakura wanted to bottle how safe and content and _at ease_ she felt. Naruto and Sasuke had, quite literally, seen her at her worst and instead of fleeing, they chose to stick around and help her. It was different, she decided, from the way things happened the first time around. She wasn't the helpless little girl and devoted fangirl who stood watching their backs. Sakura was now their equal in all the ways that counted.

The world seemed to grow quiet, as if to give this moment the weight it deserved.

Team 7 was whole again.

* * *

Kakashi was, without doubt, a full-fledged shinobi. He performed well out in the field, be it espionage, silent assassinations, or straightforward battles. Though he'd rather choose the first two and resign himself to the third if there was no other option. As a sensei, however, he couldn't help but feel that he was _lacking._ He had apathy mastered down to an art and had resented the Sandaime for shoving generations of brats upon him. This year's bunch took the cake as far as _dysfunctional_ went. He came in with low expectations and was proven partially right.

Sasuke had the skills and brain, but not the heart. Sakura had all three which she shouldn't. Not so soon, not so young, and what Naruto lacked in skills and intelligence, he made up for in heart, which could only mean an early grave.

Overall, he would have failed them. _Should have._ The Hokage and The Council of elders be damned. Kakashi had enough blood on his hands already.

So, when the three of them refused to give each other up for ambition' sake, he saw what they could be, not what they were. Time passed and he wasn't disappointed. They were coming along nicely. Some days he wanted to strangle them while other days he'd commit murder if anyone did so much as look at his little genin in the wrong way.

Kakashi the shinobi was brilliant. Kakashi the teacher however? Not so much. Things were a lot easier back when he thought of Team 7 as duty.

Just as duty.

The fact that he cared if Naruto ate healthy a few times a month, Sasuke took his PSTD meds and Sakura didn't suffer chakra depletion whenever she pushed herself said something.

For the first time in his life, Kakashi got personally attached to his mission. The last few days he had spent trying to make peace with that. As soon as he did, the jonin concluded that his students deserved someone worthy enough to follow and not only because Konoha's laws demanded it. Clueless as to how he should go about it, he thought of Minato-sensei and the answer came easily. He ought to treat them equally but train them in different ways, tailored after their respective talents and needs.

One-on-one sessions weren't excluded, either. But he'd take turns. Naruto was first on Kakashi's list. Personal reasons, mostly. Sasuke and Sakura's bond also happened to be the weakest. Forcing them to rely on each other should help with that. It wasn't unheard of for teams to split during missions because of external forces.

Kakashi had learned that the hard way when he found himself with just Obito, their sensei leagues away and their teammate in need of rescuing.

Suffice to say, how well they got along, _mattered_.

Feeling Naruto's eyes on him, he shut his book and put the introspection on pause. The blond was...looking at him skeptically.

_That's new._

"Do you have something you want to share?" he arched a brow.

"Do you?" the prankster retorted. "Don't take this the wrong way, Kakashi-sensei but we have been walking for fifteen minutes during which you pretended to be reading your porn but actually weren't." Naruto was far from dense when it came to reading people, it seemed. But then again, he was more lenient with his guard when around his team.

"I didn't think you'd notice." he admitted, judging him for a reaction.

The brat grinned, proud. "That's the deal. A spy is only awesome if no one suspects him." he paused. "I've been watching people for some time now. Sakura-chan told me it's important to know your friends and your enemies."

Kakashi nodded, pleased with Naruto's progress though a little miffed. Spies and orange didn't usually mix. "Sakura is right. What am I then?"

His answer surprised him. "You are a friend to me and the others back home but you'd be an enemy to foreign ninja."

"How so, Naruto? There is peace now." Kakashi challenged.

Naruto made a face as he pondered this. "It's a fake one. If it were real, jii-chan wouldn't be stressed all the time and we wouldn't have several ninjas guarding the village walls and gates."

He didn't have anything to say to that. Their conversation got him thinking, though. Initially, Kakashi had planned on teaching Naruto stuff related to brute force since Team 7 was meant for combat and the kid had a knack for jumping headfirst into battles. He would have left intel gathering to Sasuke whose quiet demeanor and stealth made for a good fit.

Kakashi had committed worse crimes than ignoring tradition. "Tell me what you know about the kage bunshin no jutsu, Naruto."

His student considered this. "Nothing other than how I wasn't supposed to learn it." he faced him. "Shadow clones are horrible game partners, Kakashi-sensei."

The Copy Cat felt as though Naruto had punched his gut. Guilt ate at him for not being there all these years. He swallowed it down and claimed a deserted park bench, silently urging his youngest student to follow. He pulled out a tiny scroll, opened the seal and spread out a deck of cards. "I haven't played in a long time so, I'm kind of rusty. If you can excuse your old sensei..." he stopped when he heard a sniff.

Naruto wiped at his face furiously as if ashamed. The sight pulled at his heart strings. "I'm sorry, it's just...nobody has ever wanted to play with me before."

Kakashi's visible eye softened as he ruffled his blonde hair. "Maa, it's alright." he paused. "I have a condition, though."

He perked up at that. "What condition?"

"The kage bunshin, Naruto, is a high-level technique because it gives you the upper hand inside enemy territory. Your clones can scout the area for traps, buy you time and help you gather information. When they dispel, their memories become part of _your_ memory. "

Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it. "That actually explains a lot dattebayo. I thought it was my imagination or the stupid fox playing tricks." he shook his head. "You didn't say what the condition was."

Kakashi prepared the cards, shuffling them. "You make several shadow clones and have them walk around Wave Country. Watch out specifically for mercenaries and thugs then write a list of names, how they look and anything else _you_ think it's important. Then I want you to send the list to Sakura and Sasuke through another shadow clone."

He had every reason to believe Zabuza was hired and if the man's bingo book status was anything to go by, he wasn't cheap. Granted what Tazuna told them, it was safe to assume Gato was the only person wealthy enough to have a ninja do his dirty work. If Team 7 took care of Weave Country's tyrant and returned the money that was stolen, Zabuza and his partner would see no point in attacking them.

Naruto gave his signature thumbs-up and grinned. "Sure thing, Kakashi-sensei. Then we go kick their butt, right?"

He didn't look up from his cards. "We leave that to Sakura and Sasuke."

"WHAT? WHY?" Naruto protested loudly.

Kakashi was calm when he answered, having expected the outburst. "They will keep Gato's men busy while you and I take the money and give it back to the villagers."

"That's boring." the blond pouted.

He shrugged impassively. "Maybe, but the people will think of you as their hero, Naruto."

"Really?" he blinked at him, bewildered.

Kakashi arched a brow as he slapped one of his cards down on the wooden bench. "Wouldn't you, if the roles were to be reversed?"

Naruto sobered up as he reached out with his hand to take a card from atop the pile. "Point taken."

* * *

Sakura had trouble remembering the last time she and Sasuke were alone. Alone as in - no Naruto and no Kakashi in sight or vicinity. She went out of her way to ensure that rarely happened. _Oh, the irony._

To think once upon a time, she would have given anything for such an occasion. She couldn't fault him for being annoyed with her in the past. She had been naive and stubbornly persistent in her attempts and for all her smarts, Sakura had failed to realize that was the last thing Sasuke needed.

She didn't know him. Not really. Not in a way that mattered, at least. Sakura knew Sasuke as much as she knew the old lady living across the street; slightly more if she considered knowledge of his future actions. The fact that she was better at reading body language meant little. It was all surface level data.

And it showed.

She wouldn't call the silence that settled between them uncomfortable since they were cordial now. The sole fact that he had been there for her last night, calling a truce with Naruto, was more than enough proof. The pinkette had to tread carefully.

What drove Sasuke forward?

_Revenge._

What did he seek out?

_Power._

How was she going to stop him from leaving?

_I have no idea._

Sakura _could_ use violence, she supposed. Her past self would have never thought to be on his level, let alone to dare raise a hand against him. Her current self had no such reservations. She'd rather see Sasuke beaten to a pulp than gone and forever out of their reach. Naruto fought him then, though and lost. She knew for a fact that she wasn't stronger than Naruto.

Not when he used the Kyuubi.

Sakura wondered just how much of its chakra had the blond used during their fight. Then she wondered just how much Naruto held back only because it pained him to fight his best friend. She knew but the end result- Sasuke victorious and Naruto nearly shoved into a coma.

_What if he didn't hold back and Sasuke was just that much stronger than him?_

The thought was disturbing. So much so - that Sakura felt sick to her stomach. She doubted she'd be any more successful than Naruto if it came down to that. Which was why it must never do. At this point, she was more shinobi than they were. Sasuke and Naruto always faced each other straight on.

 _Fairly_.

And though she was at her best during close combat herself, Sakura figured going for a different approach would increase her chances.

Best case scenario- she'd ensure that Orochimaru never marked Sasuke.

Worst case scenario- she'd sneak inside his hospital room, drug him, and have Naruto carry him. She'd say they are pulling a prank that somehow involved their sensei's house. Cue the team sleepover Sakura was robbed off. Surely the Sound Four would have enough common sense not to attack Sharingan no Kakashi.

She pinched her eyebrows and sighed quietly.

"Teme! Sakura-chan!" a familiar voice yelled in the distance.

Besides her, Sasuke straightened up. "Why would dobe send a kage bunshin?" he voiced out loud her exact thoughts.

She shrugged. "Beats me."

Naruto's clone ceased running upon reaching them. He thrust his hand forward. The Uchiha heir took the piece of paper and scanned it.

"The men written on that list work under Gato. Kakashi-sensei wants you to catch them." the blond's replica disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Sakura shuffled closer to Sasuke and craned her neck to look over his shoulder. He stiffened at the proximity but didn't brush her off. Naruto's messy writing was impossible to decipher. His brows furrowed as he handed the paper to his female teammate.

"Who is our first target?" he required, limbs twitching in anticipation. Sasuke longed to fight.

"Asai Hiro, brown hair, grey eyes, has a katana strapped to his back, wears baggy clothes and is as tall as Kakashi-sensei."

"Is he a ninja?" he asked.

She shook her head negatively. "None of them are. Thugs, mercenaries, thieves..." her voice trembled next. "...rapists."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. "You handle the first two categories while I deal with the rest."

Thinking that he mistook her reaction as fear rather than anger and disgust, Sakura's eyes hardened. "You don't have to coddle me."

"I'm not." he replied simply. _Not after what I witnessed last night._ Sasuke didn't doubt her skills, hadn't doubted them in some time. Her most recent display of strength erased any lingering sentiment of that sort. "There is two of us, might as well get this over with fast. Zabuza and the hunter-nin are the bigger threats."

The pinkette calmed a bit, taking his word for it. Sasuke was many things but a liar was not one of them. "To be honest, I don't think Kakashi-sensei plans for us to fight them again."

He gave her an 'are you mental' kind of look.

"It's the wisest course of action..." Sakura froze in the middle of wording her sentence. Instinctively, her hand went to her kunai pouch. Then her eyes widened when she remembered Tazuna, standing a few meters away on the bridge. _I know these chakra signatures._ She met Sasuke's eyes and titled her head backwards.

He got the silent meaning and stuck his hands inside his pockets as he walked past her and stopped near their client. "You got bored, didn't you, son? Guarding an old man such as myself..." Tazuna rambled, utterly oblivious.

Sakura was at loss. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She and Sasuke were no match for them on their own. Did this happen the first time around? If so, how did they win?

_Come on Haruno, think._

They needed a distraction.

"Sasuke-kun." the affectionate honorific slipped off her lips and it struck Sakura just how natural it sounded, even after so much time had passed.

He jerked his head in her direction and narrowed his eyebrows in disbelief. "What, Sakura?" he might as well go along with her plan.

She made a show out of battling her eyelashes at him. "I bet my clone can outran yours."

Sasuke huffed, dignified. "I thought we were past childish games." he paused, seemingly to consider what she said. "Fine, I'm bored anyways. If I win, you and I train together when we get home."

Her mind drew a blank at the strange request but then she figured that was the closest thing to a prize he could have named without losing all sense of self.

"If I win..." she hesitated. "You have to promise me something."

Sasuke tried to gauge when their pretense had stumbled into real territory. Come to think of it, he had meant what he said about training with Sakura. He waited expectantly for her to state what that 'something' was. Surely, she didn't think he'd agree without knowing to what. "Well?" he probed.

Sakura stilled. "You have to promise me that you will never leave us, leave Team Seven."

The raw, naked emotion in his teammate's eyes made him feel uncomfortable. Sasuke adverted his gaze and nodded curtly. "Let's play then."

Both went through the hand seals and performed shadow clones. Both ran but Sakura's got underneath the bridge and set explosive tags while Sasuke's went in the direction of the city market, to let Kakashi and Naruto know they needed help.

Their high ranked foes emerged from the woods.

"You kill the brats, Haku, while I wait for The Copy Cat to show-up." Zabuza showed off his teeth. "He and I have some unfinished business."


End file.
